How to Write 痖 (yǎ) — Meaning “mute; hoarse”

Picture a sick person (疒) lying in bed, trying to say hello but only a weak, hoarse sound comes out — that second-rate voice is 亚. So 痖 is the illness that makes your voice sound like a poor second version of normal speech.

Write the radical 疒 first, starting with the dot and horizontal stroke, then the downward-left stroke. The inside part 亚 must be centered and not too wide — a common mistake is making the left vertical stroke of 亚 too long or crossing into the radical.

Both 疣 (wart) and 疤 (scar) also use the illness radical, but their right parts give different meanings: 疣 has 尤 (especially), referring to an abnormal growth on skin; 疤 has 巴 (to stick), denoting a mark left after healing. 痖 specifically relates to voice loss or hoarseness, not to skin conditions.

痖 appears mostly in formal or medical terms such as 痖巴 (mute person), 聋痖 (deaf-mute), and 痖嗓 (hoarse voice). It is not an HSK word and is less common in daily conversation; instead, people often use 哑 (also yǎ, same meaning but more common) in speech and writing.

Common words containing 痖 include: 痖巴 (yǎ bā) — mute person; 聋痖 (lóng yǎ) — deaf and mute; 痖嗓 (yǎ sǎng) — hoarse voice.