Taxonomy of meanings for 咽:　　

  • 咽 yē (OC: qiid MC: ʔet) 烏結切 入 廣韻：【哽咽 】
    • CHOKE
      • viget choked; throb; sob
    • BLOCK
    • 咽 yān (OC: qiin MC: ʔen) 烏前切 平 廣韻：【咽喉 】
      • THROAT
        • ntop of the throat where both air and food pass
    • 咽 yàn (OC: qiins MC: ʔen) 於甸切 去 廣韻：【同嚥 】
      • SWALLOW
        • vtoNswallow downNote that yàn 嚥 is a late graph used only for the verbal yàn 咽 "swallow" and not for the nominal yān 咽 "top of the throat".
        • viactswallow

      Additional information about 咽

      說文解字: 【咽】，嗌也。从口、因聲。 【烏前切】

        Criteria
      • SWALLOW

        1. The most general word is yàn 嚥 / 咽 which refers to any act of swallowing, fast or slow, eager or relaxed.

        2. Tūn 吞 (ant. tǔ 吐 "gulp up") is to gulp down eagerly, typically in large chunks.

        3. Xiá 呷 is a very rare word apparently referring to sucking and swallowing.

      • THROAT

        1. The current general word for the throat is hóu 喉, but the word refers more specifically to the place where one breathes.

        2. Yān 咽 refers primarily to the place where the food passes at the opening of the throat.

        3. Yì 嗌 can refer to the throat as the place where food passes in the process of eating or the place through which one breathes and is thus in a sense the most general word, but the word always remained rare.

        Word relations
      • Contrast: (SWALLOW)吞/SWALLOW Tūn 吞 (ant. tǔ 吐 "gulp up") is to gulp down eagerly, typically in large chunks.