咿呀 (yī yā) — (onomatopoeia) creak, squeak (e.g., of a door or oar); (onomatopoeia) babble (of a baby)

Definition

Onomatopoeia for two kinds of sound: a creak or squeak (a door, oar) and a baby's babble. Often reduplicated or stretched (咿咿呀呀) for a continuous, drawn-out sound.

onomatopoeia
creaksqueak (e.g., of a door or oar)babble (of a baby)

Examples

  • 咿呀。
    Mén yī yā yī shēng kāi le.
    The door opened with a creak.
  • 咿呀，。
    Yīng ér yī yā dì jiào zhe, fēi cháng kě ài.
    The baby babbled, very cute.
  • 咿呀。
    Xiǎo chuán zài hú miàn shàng yī yā dì yáo zhe.
    The small boat creaked on the lake.

Origin

Characters in this word

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
伊
伊yī咿
Same sound today

咿 pairs 口, a mouth, with 伊 as a sound part.

Open 咿 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 呀 →

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