Chinlingo Chinese character: 口

When used as a radical, "口" (kǒu) is often put on the left side of the character, indicating that the character is related to the mouth of people or animals. Mouth is an important eating and vocal organ. Thus, compound characters formed with the radical "口" are basically related to eating, drinking and onomatopoeia. For example, "咽" (yàn) means "swallow"; "吠" (fèi) means "bark"; "叮咚" (dīnɡ dōnɡ) is an onomatopoetic word imitating the sound of water drops or the clank of metals or jade. 

"口"可以作为汉字偏旁，它常放在汉字的左侧，提示该汉字与人或动物的嘴有关。而嘴是饮食、发声的重要器官。因此，与"口"为偏旁组合而成的合体字，多与吃、喝、拟声有关的字。比如， "咽（yàn）"指的是将食物通过嘴入食道的动作。"吠（fèi）"指狗叫；或者指野兽大声叫。 "叮咚（dīnɡ dōnɡ）"是拟声词。模拟金属、玉石等碰撞或泉水滴落的声音。

Special attention should be paid here: when used as a component in an up-down structured character, "口" should be smaller than its normal size as a single character, so the whole character would look well-balanced. For example, "吞" (tūn) is an up-down structured character; "口" on the bottom should be smaller to match "天" on the top. 

还需要特别注意的是：当"口"出现在上下结构的汉字中，书写时要比单独写"口"时的规格略小一些。以配合上面的部件，使整体汉字看起来匀称为主。比如，"吞（tūn）"。上下结构，处于下方的"口"在书写时要和上部的 "天"尺寸相称。

When used as a radical on the left side of a character, "口" should be the smallest. Just look at the examples in the first passage, "咽", "吠" and "叮咚". "口" on their left sides are all smaller than their right components, and the bottom part of an up-down structured character. 

当"口"做汉字偏旁出现在左侧时，书写时的尺寸则需要进一步的缩小。以本文介绍的几个汉字为例，"咽"、"吠"、"叮咚"在书写时均比右边的部件小。

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