Definition
咿 is an onomatopoeic character used to represent creaking sounds (like a door) or the babbling of babies. It almost always appears in the reduplicated forms 咿呀 (yī yā) or 咿咿呀呀 (yī yī yā yā) to imitate a rhythmic, squeaky noise. As a standalone character it is rarely used alone in modern Chinese; the reduplicated compounds are the natural units in speech and writing.
onomatopoeia
used to represent creakingbabblingor squeaking soundsoften in the form 咿呀 or 咿咿呀呀
Examples
- ，。Mén yī yā de xiǎng le yì shēng, ránhòu kāi le.The door creaked and then opened.
- 。Chuāng wài chuánlái háizi yī yā de xuéyǔ shēng.From outside the window came the babbling sound of a child learning to speak.
- ，。Háizi hái xiǎo, zhǐ huì yī ya de xué shuōhuà.The child is still young and can only babble.
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