叽里呱啦 (jī li guā lā) — (onomatopoeia) the sound of loud, rapid, and indistinct talking; hullabaloo, chatter

Definition

An onomatopoeia for a burst of loud, rapid chatter — voices tumbling over each other so you can't make out individual words. Often used loosely for any noisy commotion, not just talking.

onomatopoeia
the sound of loudrapidand indistinct talkinghullabaloochatter

Examples

  • 叽里呱啦，。
    Tā men jī li guā lā dì liáo le yí gè wǎn shàng, wǒ yí jù yě méi tīng dǒng.
    They chattered away all evening, and I didn't understand a single word.
  • 叽里呱啦，。
    Gé bì fáng jiān chuán lái yí zhèn jī li guā lā de shēng yīn, hǎo xiàng zài chǎo jià.
    A hullabaloo came from the next room, as if they were arguing.
  • 叽里呱啦，。
    Hái zi men zài yuàn zi lǐ jī li guā lā dì pǎo lái pǎo qù, rè nao jí le.
    The kids ran around the yard making a racket — it was so lively.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
拟声nǐshēngOnomatopoeia

The characters imitate a sound; their individual meanings play no part.

叽jī
里lǐ
呱guā
啦lā

叽里呱啦 imitates loud, rapid, indistinct chatter; the characters carry no meaning of their own here.

Sound-only characters

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 叽 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 裡; 里 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 里 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (里, 里面) it is 裡; in others (公里) it is 里 or 裏.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衤Written in full as衣yīclothes
Sound part声符shēngfú
里
里lǐ裡lǐ
Same sound today

The form 裡 pairs 衤 (clothes) with 里 as a sound component.

Open 里 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 呱 →

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
拉
拉lā啦la
Same sound today

啦 pairs 口 (mouth) with 拉, which gives the pronunciation lā. The 口 part points to the mouth.

Open 啦 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.