How to Write 咴 (huī) — Meaning “whinny”

Imagine a horse with a gray (灰) mane opening its mouth (口) to let out a loud ‘huī’ sound. The color gray can help you recall the phonetic part huī, and the mouth reminds you it is a sound. This visual connects the horse, the gray color, and the cry together.

The left radical 口 should be small and positioned slightly higher than the middle of the right component 灰. Pay attention to the stroke order: write 口 first (vertical, top horizontal, bottom horizontal), then the left part of 灰 (left-falling stroke), then the right part (horizontal, left-falling, right-falling, horizontal hook). A common mistake is making the 口 too large, which throws off the balance.

咴 means 'whinny' and is used for horse sounds, while 君 (jūn) means 'lord' or 'ruler' and 吝 (lìn) means 'stingy'. Visually, 咴 has the 口 radical on the left and 灰 on the right, whereas 君 has 口 on top of 尹, and 吝 has 文 above 口. Their meanings and pronunciations are completely unrelated.

咴 is a rare character mainly used in onomatopoeic expressions like 咴咴 for the sound of a horse's whinny. You might encounter it in classical literature or when describing horse sounds in stories. It is not part of everyday vocabulary, so learners should recognize it but rarely need to use it actively.

Common words containing 咴 include: 咴咴 (huī huī) — whinnying sound; 咴儿 (huī ér) — whinny; 咴叫 (huī jiào) — to whinny.