咯咯 (gē gē) — (onomatopoeia) the sound of laughter, especially a light giggle or chuckle; (onomatopoeia) the sound of a hen clucking or the clicking of hard objects

Definition

Onomatopoeia (gē gē) for short, repeated sharp or bright sounds — giggles, a hen clucking, or hard objects clicking/tapping together. Often reduplicated as 地 + verb.

onomatopoeia
the sound of laughter, especially a light giggle or chucklethe sound of a hen clucking or the clicking of hard objects

Examples

  • ，咯咯。
    Tā tīng dào xiào hua, rěn bú zhù gē gē dì xiào le qǐ lái.
    She heard the joke and couldn't help but giggle.
  • 咯咯。
    Mǔ jī zài yuàn zi lǐ gē gē dì jiào.
    The hen is clucking in the yard.
  • ，咯咯。
    Tā zǒu lù shí, pí xié gē gē dì xiǎng.
    When he walks, his leather shoes click.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
拟声nǐshēngOnomatopoeia

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

咯gē
咯gē

The repeated 咯 咯 only imitates a light laughing or clucking sound; neither 咯 carries a meaning of its 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
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 →

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