呱

gū, guā

口 + 瓜

Frequency#3476

Definitions

guā (onomatopoeia) crying sound (esp. of baby)

gū (onomatopoeia) crying sound of child

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 瓜 represents the sound.

Semantic: 口 Phonetic: 瓜

About

The character "呱" is structured as a phono-semantic compound with the semantic component 口, indicating its association with the mouth or sound, combined with the phonetic component 瓜, which approximates its pronunciation. Etymologically, it originated as an onomatopoeic representation of a baby's cry, as embedded in the classical expression "呱呱坠地". Its usage later extended to mimic other vocal sounds, such as the quacking of ducks or the croaking of frogs, seen in terms like "呱呱叫", thereby broadening its onomatopoeic scope while retaining its core structural composition.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

小鸭子呱呱地叫。

Xiǎo yāzi guāguā de jiào.

The little duck quacks.

青蛙在池塘里呱呱叫。

Qīngwā zài chítáng lǐ guāguā jiào.

Frogs are croaking in the pond.

他的成绩真是呱呱叫。

Tā de chéngjī zhēnshi guāguājiào.

His grades are really excellent.

孩子们听到呱呱声就笑了。

Háizimen tīng dào guāguā shēng jiù xiào le.

The children laughed when they heard the quacking sound.

虽然青蛙呱呱叫，但我不觉得吵。

Suīrán qīngwā guāguā jiào, dàn wǒ bù juédé chǎo.

Although the frogs are croaking, I don't find it noisy.

清晨，田野里传来阵阵呱呱声。

Qīngchén, tiányě lǐ chuán lái zhènzhèn guāguā shēng.

In the early morning, waves of croaking sounds come from the fields.

那只乌鸦呱呱地叫着飞过了屋顶。

Nà zhī wūyā guāguā de jiào zhe fēi guò le wūdǐng.

That crow cawed as it flew over the roof.

她模仿鸭子呱呱叫的声音非常像。

Tā mófǎng yāzi guāguā jiào de shēngyīn fēicháng xiàng.

Her imitation of the duck's quacking sound is very realistic.

Related Characters

Component: 口

Component: 瓜

呱