嘎 (gā) — (onomatopoeia) cackle, squawk, creak; sharp noise

Definition

Onomatopoeia for a sharp, short, high-pitched noise (a cackle, squawk, creak, or squeak). It reduplicates as 嘎嘎 for a continuous sound, and in speech usually sits before 地 + verb.

onomatopoeia
cacklesquawkcreaksharp noise
Easily confused

Examples

  • 嘎，。
    Wài miàn chuán lái gā de yī shēng, xiàng shì yā zi jiào.
    A cackling sound came from outside, like a duck quacking.
  • 嘎，。
    Mén zhóu gā dì xiǎng le yí xià, tā tuī mén jìn lái le.
    The door hinge creaked, and he pushed the door open.
  • 。
    Chí táng lǐ de é gā gā dì jiào zhe.
    The geese in the pond were cackling.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
戛
戛jiá嘎gǎ
Same sound today

嘎 combines the mouth component 口 with 戛, which gives the sound.

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