呛
qiāng , qiàng · HSK 7
to choke
💨 口 mouth + 仓 (cāng, granary) for sound — a mouth that chokes; cāng nudges to qiāng
The 口 mouth radical carries the meaning (choking happens in the mouth/throat), while 仓 cāng supplies the phonetic, shifting to qiāng/qiàng. Used for choking on liquid swallowed wrong, or on harsh smoke and smells.
呛 — mouth radical 口 + 仓 (cāng, storehouse)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The mouth radical 口 signals a meaning tied to the throat or act of swallowing, while 仓 supplies the sound (cāng → qiāng/qiàng). It originally described choking when food or liquid goes down the wrong way, later extending to coughing from irritating smells or smoke.