How to Write 謦 (qǐng) — Meaning “To cough; sound of talking”

Imagine someone saying "qing" while coughing, and picture a hand (殳) striking a sound (声) from their throat. The radical 讠 (speech) on the left reminds you this character is related to vocal sounds, like talking or coughing.

The left radical 言 has 7 strokes and should be written narrow, while the right side is much larger. Be careful to write the top component 声 properly — it has a horizontal stroke crossing through the first two strokes, and the bottom 殳 must not be confused with 几 or 又.

謦 (qǐng) specifically means to cough or produce a sound from the throat, while 䜌 (luán) means chaos or tangled and is extremely rare. 諠 (xuān) means noisy or clamorous, often used in ancient texts, whereas 謦 is more focused on the act of coughing or soft vocal sounds.

謦 is very rare in daily conversation; it appears mostly in classical or literary contexts. The most common usage is in the word 謦欬 (qǐng kài), meaning to cough or to talk and laugh, and in the idiom 謦欬相闻, describing people living so close that they can hear each other's voices.

Common words containing 謦 include: 謦欬 (qǐng kài) — To cough; to talk and laugh; 謦欬相闻 (qǐng kài xiāng wén) — To be within earshot; so close that voices are heard; 謦欬谈笑 (qǐng kài tán xiào) — To talk and laugh together.