How to Write 訇 (hōng) — Meaning “loud crash / bang”

Imagine a person saying 'Hong!' so loudly that the word (言) itself crashes down with a bang. You can also link it to the sound 轰 (hōng, boom) and remember that 訇 uses the speech radical to emphasize the sound as a word.

Write the radical 言 (7 strokes) first, making it slightly narrower to leave space below. The bottom part starts with a left-falling stroke, then a horizontal hook, and ends with a vertical hook and a short horizontal; be careful not to make it look like 句 (sentence). Practice the balance between the top and bottom halves.

訇 is a complete character with 9 strokes, while 言 is a simpler radical or standalone character meaning 'speech' (7 strokes). 訚 (yín) has a different bottom part (民) and means 'respectful' or 'harmonious', so visually 訇's bottom resembles 匀 while 訚's bottom is like 民. Their pronunciations and meanings are completely different.

訇 is mainly used in formal or literary contexts to describe a loud crash, as in 訇然 (hōng rán, with a loud crash). It also appears in the cultural term 阿訇 (ā hōng), meaning an Imam in Islam, which is commonly used in Chinese Muslim communities. This word is borrowed from Persian via Chinese and is still in use today.

Common words containing 訇 include: 阿訇 (ā hōng) — Imam; 訇然 (hōng rán) — with a loud crash; 訇訇 (hōng hōng) — loud rumbling sound.