hāi, ké
cough
Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 亥 represents the sound.
Evolution

Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical script
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)Regular script
ModernDefinitions
Most common words with 咳
Freq. | Word | Meaning |
---|---|---|
to cough | ||
sound of sighing | ||
to suppress coughing | ||
whooping cough | ||
to cough up phlegm |
Sources