飲

A phono-semantic compound:

食 (“food; to eat”) — semantic component, related to ingestion

欠 (“to yawn; to open the mouth”) — phonetic component, provides the sound and the image of an open mouth

Together, they depict taking liquid into the mouth, hence “to drink.”

음료 (飲料) — beverage

음식 (飲食) — food and drink

폭음 (暴飲) — heavy drinking

음주 (飲酒) — drinking alcohol

금음 (禁飲) — prohibition of drinking

과음 (過飲) — excessive drinking

In Classical Chinese, 飮 is a polyphonic character:

上聲 (rising tone) — to drink

去聲 (departing tone) — to make someone drink (causative)

In Modern Mandarin, this tonal distinction has disappeared, and 飮/饮 is read only as yǐn.

In everyday Mandarin, 喝 is now more commonly used for “to drink.”

飮 vs. 喝:

飮 — formal, literary, ritual, or compound-based usage

喝 — colloquial verb “to drink” in modern Mandarin

In Confucian texts, 飮 often appears with ritual restraint, moderation, and etiquette rather than casual drinking.

Classical citations:

《論語·鄉黨》 (The Analects)

「食不厭精，膾不厭細，飲酒不過量。」

“In eating he did not dislike refined food, and in drinking wine he did not exceed proper measure.”

《禮記·曲禮》 (The Book of Rites)

「長者賜，少者飲。」

“When an elder bestows (a drink), the younger drinks.”

《史記·項羽本紀》 (Records of the Grand Historian)

「與諸侯飲酒。」

“He drank wine together with the feudal lords.”