音

• Structured sound: In musical contexts, denotes a specific pitch, note, or tone (e.g., discrete units of melody) rather than music as a general concept.
• Phonetics: The pronunciation of a character or word as distinct from its meaning.
• Communication: By metonymy, news, tidings, or "word" received from another person.

Distinguished from 聲 (shēng). While 聲 refers to raw acoustic phenomena, physical volume, or the "reach" of a voice/reputation, 音 refers to sound that has been structured into a signal or meaningful communication.

Tang-period reading: *qyim.

In poetic, narrative, or epistolary contexts, expressions suggesting a lack of 音 (e.g., "without news") typically refer to a lack of correspondence or information rather than literal silence.