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喔 (ō) — (onomatopoeia) crow of a rooster; cock-a-doodle-doo

Definition

Onomatopoeia for a rooster's crow ('cock-a-doodle-doo'). Almost always doubled as 喔喔.

onomatopoeia
crow of a roostercock-a-doodle-doo

Examples

  • 喔喔！。
    ō ō! Gōng jī jiào le.
    Cock-a-doodle-doo! The rooster crowed.
  • 喔喔。
    Wǒ tīng dào yī shēng ō ō.
    I heard a cock-a-doodle-doo.
  • 喔喔。
    ō ō De shēng yīn hěn dà.
    The sound of cock-a-doodle-doo is very loud.

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
屋
屋wū喔wō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

喔 is built from 口 (mouth) and 屋, which gives its sound.

Appears in
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