咯吱咯吱 (gē zhī gē zhī) — (onomatopoeia) creaking or crunching sound (from wood, metal, crispy food, etc.)

Definition

Onomatopoeia for a repeated creak or crunch (wood, metal, crispy food). The doubling is built into the word — you don't need to repeat it.

onomatopoeia
creaking or crunching sound (from wood, metal, crispy food, etc.)

Examples

  • ，咯吱咯吱。
    Tā zǒu zài lǎo mù bǎn shàng, mù bǎn fā chū gē zhī gē zhī de shēng yīn.
    As he walked on the old wooden floor, it made a creaking sound.
  • ，咯吱咯吱。
    Tā yǎo le yì kǒu cuì bǐng, zuǐ lǐ fā chū gē zhī gē zhī de xiǎng shēng.
    She took a bite of the crispy biscuit, and a crunching sound came from her mouth.
  • 咯吱咯吱。
    Shēng xiù de tiě mén bèi fēng chuī dé gē zhī gē zhī dì xiǎng.
    The rusty iron door creaked loudly in the wind.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
拟声nǐshēngOnomatopoeia

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

咯gē
吱zhī
咯gē
吱zhī

咯吱咯吱 imitates repeated creaking or crunching; the characters carry no meaning of their own here.

Sound-only characters

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
各
各gè咯kǎ
Same sound today

咯 combines 口 (mouth) with 各, which gives the sound; the mouth part shows it is about a mouth action.

Open 咯 →

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
支
支zhī吱zī
Same sound today

吱 pairs 口 (mouth) with 支, which gives the sound. The mouth part points to noises like a creak or chirp.

Open 吱 →

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
各
各gè咯kǎ
Same sound today

咯 combines 口 (mouth) with 各, which gives the sound; the mouth part shows it is about a mouth action.

Open 咯 →

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
支
支zhī吱zī
Same sound today

吱 pairs 口 (mouth) with 支, which gives the sound. The mouth part points to noises like a creak or chirp.

Open 吱 →

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