咏 (yǒng) is a Chinese character meaning “to chant”. It is written from 口 (mouth) and 永 (forever; eternal), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “to chant”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
口 + 永
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字·言部：詠，歌也。从言永聲。咏，詠或从口。
Memory aid
A mouth (口) sending out words meant to last forever (永) — that is 咏, chanting a poem aloud.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 歌咏gē yǒngsinging; to sing (esp. in a group or contest)咏 = yǒng
- 咏叹yǒng tànto intone; to chant with feeling咏 = yǒng
Go deeper
All readings
to chant
to chant; to intone; to sing; to express in poetry
拖长声音吟唱；用诗词抒发情感。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 歌咏gē yǒngsinging; to sing (esp. in a group or contest)咏 = yǒng
- 咏叹yǒng tànto intone; to chant with feeling咏 = yǒng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 咏 mean?
咏 (yǒng) means to chant; to intone; to sing; to express in poetry.
How do you pronounce 咏?
It is pronounced yǒng.
What parts is 咏 made of?
口 (mouth) and 永 (forever; eternal), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字·言部：詠，歌也。从言永聲。咏，詠或从口。. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 咏 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 咏?
口. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 咏?
Common ones are 歌咏 and 咏叹. The reading of 咏 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.