嗯

嗯	U+55EF, 嗯 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-55EF

← 嗮
[U+55EE]

CJK Unified Ideographs

嗰 →
[U+55F0]

Translingual

Han character

嗯 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+10, 13 strokes, cangjie input 口田大心 (RWKP), four-corner 6603₀, composition ⿰口恩)

References

Kangxi Dictionary: not present, would follow page 204, character 11
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 668, character 3
Unihan data for U+55EF

Chinese

simp. and trad.		嗯

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (因) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

	Old Chinese
欭	*qrils
烟	qiːn, qin
胭	*qiːn
咽	qiːn, qiːns, *qiːd
恩	*qɯːn
煾	*qɯːn
因	*qin
姻	*qin
茵	*qin
鞇	*qin
氤	*qin
洇	*qin
駰	qin, qrin
絪	*qin
裀	*qin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 恩.

Pronunciation 1

Mandarin
(Pinyin): ńg, ń, én, éng (ng², n², en², eng²)

(Zhuyin): ㆭˊ, ㄯˊ, ㄣˊ, ㄥˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): ng²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: ńg
  - Zhuyin: ㆭˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: ńg
  - Wade–Giles: ng²
  - Yale: ńg
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ng2
  - Palladius: н (n)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋ̍³⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: ń
  - Zhuyin: ㄯˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: ń
  - Wade–Giles: n²
  - Yale: ń
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: n2
  - Palladius: нь (nʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /n̩³⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: én
  - Zhuyin: ㄣˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: én
  - Wade–Giles: ên²
  - Yale: én
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ern
  - Palladius: энь (enʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀən³⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: éng
  - Zhuyin: ㄥˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: éng
  - Wade–Giles: êng²
  - Yale: éng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: erng
  - Palladius: эн (en)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀɤŋ³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
  - Jyutping: ng²
  - Yale: ńg
  - Cantonese Pinyin: ng²
  - Guangdong Romanization: ng²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋ̍³⁵/

Definitions

嗯

Used as an interjection to express doubt or curiosity.

Pronunciation 2

Mandarin
(Pinyin): ňg, ň, ěn, ěng, en (ng³, n³, en³, eng³, en⁵／en⁰)

(Zhuyin): ㆭˇ, ㄯˇ, ㄣˇ, ㄥˇ, ˙ㄣ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: ňg
  - Zhuyin: ㆭˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: ňg
  - Wade–Giles: ng³
  - Yale: ňg
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ng3
  - Palladius: н (n)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋ̍²¹⁴/
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: ň
  - Zhuyin: ㄯˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: ň
  - Wade–Giles: n³
  - Yale: ň
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: n3
  - Palladius: нь (nʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /n̩²¹⁴/
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: ěn
  - Zhuyin: ㄣˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: ěn
  - Wade–Giles: ên³
  - Yale: ěn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: een
  - Palladius: энь (enʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀən²¹⁴/
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: ěng
  - Zhuyin: ㄥˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: ěng
  - Wade–Giles: êng³
  - Yale: ěng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: eeng
  - Palladius: эн (en)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀɤŋ²¹⁴/
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: en
  - Zhuyin: ˙ㄣ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: e̊n
  - Wade–Giles: ên⁵
  - Yale: en
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: .en
  - Palladius: энь (enʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀən/

Definitions

嗯

Used as an interjection to express surprise.

Pronunciation 3

Mandarin
(Pinyin): ǹg, ǹ, èn, èng, en (ng⁴, n⁴, en⁴, eng⁴, en⁵／en⁰)

(Zhuyin): ㆭˋ, ㄯˋ, ㄣˋ, ㄥˋ, ˙ㄣ
Cantonese (Jyutping): ng⁶

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: ǹg
  - Zhuyin: ㆭˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: ǹg
  - Wade–Giles: ng⁴
  - Yale: ǹg
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ng4
  - Palladius: н (n)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋ̍⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: ǹ
  - Zhuyin: ㄯˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: ǹ
  - Wade–Giles: n⁴
  - Yale: ǹ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: n4
  - Palladius: нь (nʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /n̩⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: èn
  - Zhuyin: ㄣˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: èn
  - Wade–Giles: ên⁴
  - Yale: èn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: enn
  - Palladius: энь (enʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀən⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: èng
  - Zhuyin: ㄥˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: èng
  - Wade–Giles: êng⁴
  - Yale: èng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: enq
  - Palladius: эн (en)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀɤŋ⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: en
  - Zhuyin: ˙ㄣ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: e̊n
  - Wade–Giles: ên⁵
  - Yale: en
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: .en
  - Palladius: энь (enʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀən/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
  - Jyutping: ng⁶
  - Yale: ngh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: ng⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: ng⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋ̍²²/

Definitions

嗯

Used as an interjection to express agreement or pledge.
alternative form of 硬 (yìng)

Pronunciation 4

Mandarin
(Pinyin): ēn, ēng (en¹, eng¹)

(Zhuyin): ㄣ, ㄥ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: ēn
  - Zhuyin: ㄣ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: en
  - Wade–Giles: ên¹
  - Yale: ēn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: en
  - Palladius: энь (enʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀən⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: ēng
  - Zhuyin: ㄥ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: eng
  - Wade–Giles: êng¹
  - Yale: ēng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: eng
  - Palladius: эн (en)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀɤŋ⁵⁵/

Definitions

嗯

(onomatopoeia) A groaning sound.

Compounds

嗯哎
嗯哪 (n̄na)
嗯啊