音

Tap the pinyin to hear it

sound; noise; note (of musical scale); tone; news; syllable; reading (phonetic value of a character)

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

A tongue 立 forming a sound in the mouth 日

Components 立日

sound · Heisig RSH #484

立 standing up + tongue wagging in the mouth — as a component also called: sound

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
儿化音	ér huà yīn	(Chinese phonetics) erhua (the sound of the r-coloring of a syllable final)
子音	zǐ yīn	consonant
有气音	yǒu qì yīn	aspirated consonant (in phonetics)
国音	guó yīn	official pronunciation standard (esp. in the Republic of China in the early 20th century)
心音	xīn yīn	sound of the heart; heartbeat
发音体	fā yīn tǐ	sound producing object (soundboard, vibrating string, membrane etc)
语音学	yǔ yīn xué	phonetics
美国之音	Měi guó Zhī Yīn	Voice of America (VOA)
电音	diàn yīn	electronic music (genre)
音高	yīn gāo	pitch (music); tone
高音	gāo yīn	high pitch; soprano; treble
发音	fā yīn	to pronounce; pronunciation; to emit sound
音长	yīn cháng	sound duration; length of a musical note
三音	sān yīn	third (musical interval, e.g. do-mi)
合成语音	hé chéng yǔ yīn	assembled phonology
自然发音	zì rán fā yīn	phonics (Tw)
语音合成	yǔ yīn hé chéng	speech synthesis
口音	kǒu yīn	(linguistics) oral speech sounds
口音	kǒu yin	voice; accent
主音	zhǔ yīn	keynote; principal tone; tonic; vowel

These characters use 音 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
音 sound part	yīn	sound, tone, pitch, pronunciation
意	yì	thought, idea, opinion; desire, wish; meaning, intention
暗	àn	dark, gloomy; obscure; secret, covert
谙	ān	well-versed in, fully acquainted with
黯	àn	black; dark; sullen, dreary
窨	xūn	cellar, storeroom
喑	yīn	dumb, mute; the sobbing of an infant
戠	zhí	sword; potter's clay; to gather
揞	ǎn	to cover, to conceal; to apply medicine or make-up
歆	xīn	to like, to admire; willingly, gladly