How to Write 炔 (guì) — Meaning “Alkyne”

Imagine a fire (火) burning a piece of cloth quickly — the sound is 'guì' like 'gwee', and cloth burning reminds you of acetylene gas used in torches. The left side is fire, and the right side 夬 looks like a torn piece of cloth.

The left radical 火 changes shape: the last stroke becomes a short diagonal line (点) instead of a full right-falling stroke. The right side 夬 has three horizontal strokes that should be evenly spaced, with the last stroke being a right-falling stroke (捺).

炔 (guì) means 'alkyne' (a type of chemical), while 灯 (dēng) means 'lamp' and 灰 (huī) means 'ash' or 'gray'. Visually, 炔 uses the phonetic component 夬, 灯 uses 丁, and 灰 uses 火 with 又 below — all have different right or bottom parts.

炔 is a specialized chemical term, most common in the word 乙炔 (yǐguì, acetylene), a gas used for welding and in traditional carbide lamps. You might also see it in chemistry textbooks or industrial contexts, but it is not used in daily conversation.

Common words containing 炔 include: 乙炔 (yǐ guì) — acetylene; 炔烃 (guì tīng) — Alkyne (hydrocarbon); 炔灯 (guì dēng) — Acetylene lamp.