Chinese character 呷

In Mandarin, 呷 means to sip or drink.

The Han-era Chinese character dictionary Shuowen Jiezi (《說文解字》) glosses it as “吸呷也,” linking it to sucking or drinking; Tang and Song poems use 呷 for sipping a drink. Its left component 口 (“mouth”) marks a mouth action, while 甲 provides the sound cue.

In classical Chinese texts, compounds with 呷 can evoke rustling garments or a jumble of voices. Repeated 呷呷 also imitates a duck’s call or laughter.

Why does 呷飯 mean eat?

In colloquial Taiwanese Hokkien writing, 呷飯 means eating a meal.

Here 呷 is a sound-based spelling for the spoken verb. The Taiwanese Ministry of Education’s Hokkien dictionary uses 食飯 in the saying 食飯皇帝大 (“mealtime comes first”); 呷飯 is a colloquial alternative. This reading belongs to Hokkien, not Mandarin.