HanziGuru.咳 · hāi
咳
hāi[hai1]Tone 1

sound of sighing, interjection (oh, alas, damn)

HSK 5
Multiple Readings (多音字):
Guru Deep Dive

English · sound of sighing, interjection (oh, alas, damn)

Cached lesson
1 / 1
Topology:Left-right
Strokes:9
Writing Balance Rule: The left side (mouth radical) should be compact and positioned slightly higher, while the right side (sign for breath/sigh) extends wider and slightly lower to maintain visual equilibrium.
1. Meaning

sigh or exclamation of surprise, sorrow, regret, or disappointment (oh, alas, damn)

sound of coughing (alternative reading késé)
Interjection / OnomatopoeiaColloquial#emotions#interjections#onomatopoeia#sounds
Sample Usage
  • 嗨，你怎么在这里？
    hāi, nǐ zěnme zài zhèlǐ?
    Oh/Hi, why are you here?
  • 嗨！这有什么大不了的。
    hāi! zhè yǒu shénme dàbǎoliǎo de.
    Oh! What is such a big deal about this.
2. Sound
/[xaɪ̯⁵⁵]/Tone: 55
咳
hāihai1
++
¯(55)
=hāi
Initial Consonant
h
Type: Velar Fricative
Sounds like: h sound as in 'hot'
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Gentle throat friction (like fogging glasses on a cold day).
Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue stays low and relaxed at the floor of the mouth while air friction is produced in the throat.
Final Rhyme
ai
Vowel Group: -a vowel group
Sounds like: -ai rhymes with 'eye' or 'high'
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'eye'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone
T1 (55)
1st Tone (High-Flat)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 is a high, steady pitch, similar to a musical note sustained at the top of your vocal range without rising or falling.
👂
Listening trap: Often confused with the English greeting 'hi' or Mandarin hāi (when used as a friendly wave/greeting, though hāi as an interjection carries emotional weight like a sigh or gasp).
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: A high, flat hand motion held steady in the air, mirroring a sustained high note.
3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 9 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (mouth radical) should be compact and positioned slightly higher, while the right side (sign for breath/sigh) extends wider and slightly lower to maintain visual equilibrium.

4. Components

Radical 口 · Mouth Radical (mouth, speaking, vocal sounds)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 口 (Indicates that this character represents a sound or utterance made with the mouth.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 亥 (original sound: hài / hāi sound clue)

The mouth radical (口) on the left combines with the phonetic component亥 (hài) on the right to represent an audible breath, sigh, or exclamation escaping from the mouth.

  • 口 Mouth component indicating sounds and voice
  • 亥 Phonetic component providing the sound 'hài'
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the mouth radical (口) representing vocalization and speech, and 亥 (hài) acting as the phonetic base to capture the natural sound of a sigh or breath of exclamation.

Semantic Evolution: Originally captured the sharp intake or expulsion of breath associated with sighs of regret, sorrow, or surprise, later expanding into general interjection usage.

  • Interjections in Chinese often combine the mouth radical to indicate they are spontaneous vocal noises rather than core conceptual nouns.
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
khải
High level tone in Mandarin maps to higher register vocalization.
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: カイ (kai) / ガイ (gai) / Kun: せき (seki)
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
해
Sound Shift Bridge: The initial 'h' and final '-ai' parallel exclamation words in various languages expressing sudden realization or breathiness.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story

You open your MOUTH (口) wide to let out a loud sigh of exclamation—'HĀI!'—because you dropped your piggy bank from the 亥th floor balcony.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
核
hécore, nucleusUses tree radical (木) + 亥 for the hard core of a fruit.
该
gāishould, ought toUses speech radical (讠) + 亥 for what one is supposed to say/do.
刻
kèquarter hour, carveUses knife radical (刂) + 亥 for carving time or wood.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
海(hǎi)
Has the water radical (氵) instead of the mouth radical (口), meaning 'ocean'.
害(hài)
Lacks the mouth radical entirely, meaning 'harm' or 'damage'.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
[___]！我怎么把这么重要的事给忘了？
Clue: hāi
Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the interjection reading (hāi) with the cough reading (ké, as in késé 咳嗽), or confusing the character with phonetically similar characters built on the same phonetic component 亥.

Memory Prompts
Recognition: When you see 咳 expressing a sigh or exclamation, what sound and tone should you pronounce?
Production: How do you write the character for an exclamation/sigh that sounds like 'hāi', and which radical does it start with?
Real-World Video Context

Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.

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