嘎嘎 (gā gā) — (onomatopoeia) quacking sound (of ducks); laugh…

Definition

Onomatopoeia for a sharp, repeated sound — most commonly a duck's quack, but also a person laughing loudly or giggling. Always reduplicated; used as an adverb (嘎嘎地) before the verb, or as a 的-noun (嘎嘎的声音).

onomatopoeia

quacking sound (of ducks)laughing sound (of a person)

Examples

嘎嘎。
Yā zi zài shuǐ lǐ gā gā dì jiào.
The ducks are quacking in the water.
，嘎嘎。
Tā tīng le xiào hua, gā gā dì xiào gè bù tíng.
He heard the joke and laughed nonstop with a 'gaga' sound.
嘎嘎。
Wài miàn chuán lái gā gā de shēng yīn.
A quacking sound came from outside.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

嘎gǎquacking sound

The doubled "嘎" imitates a quacking or laughing sound.

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.

口戛嘎

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

戛

戛jiá嘎gǎ

Same sound today

嘎 combines the mouth component 口 with 戛, which gives the sound.

Open 嘎 →