{"id":183434,"date":"2016-01-27T13:07:29","date_gmt":"2016-01-27T18:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/onomatopoeia-chinese\/"},"modified":"2025-02-23T05:29:04","modified_gmt":"2025-02-23T10:29:04","slug":"onomatopoeia-chinese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/chinese\/onomatopoeia-chinese\/","title":{"rendered":"The Complete Guide to Onomatopoeia in Chinese"},"content":{"rendered":"

Onomatopoeias are a playful and easy way to imitate sounds in the natural world\u2014like how splish<\/strong> splash<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0drip drop<\/strong> are the sounds of water in English.<\/p>\n

Chinese onomatopoeias\u2014\u8c61\u58f0\u8bcd (xi\u00e0ng sh\u0113ng c\u00ed)<\/em>\u2014are divided into two general categories: classical Chinese and modern spoken Chinese. <\/strong>Classical Chinese onomatopoeias come from written records and include tone marks, whereas modern spoken onomatopoeias usually don’t.<\/p>\n

Take a look at this guide to learn essential Chinese onomatopoeias, onomatopoeia categories and how to use them in real life.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

Simple Chinese Onomatopoeia<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Simple Chinese onomatopoeias comprise most reduplicated words and words with affixes. A firm grasp of these one-word characters will help you build more complicated phrases.<\/p>\n

One-character words<\/h3>\n

Simple onomatopoeic words are monosyllabic characters.<\/b><\/p>\n

These are one-character words that will usually not have a tone to them.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

\u8f70<\/strong> (h\u014dng) \u2014<\/em>\u00a0boom<\/p>\n

\u556a<\/strong> (p\u0101) \u2014<\/em>\u00a0bang<\/p>\n

\u7830<\/strong> (p\u0113ng) \u2014<\/em>\u00a0thump<\/p>\n

\u5530<\/strong> (shu\u0101) \u2014<\/em>\u00a0swish<\/p>\n

Alliterative<\/h3>\n

Some simple onomatopoeic words will be alliterative, where both syllables use the same initial. Examples include:<\/p>\n

\u53ee\u5f53<\/strong> (d\u012bng d\u0101ng) \u2014<\/em>\u00a0clashing of metal or porcelain objects sounds<\/p>\n

\u5600\u55d2<\/strong> (d\u00ed d\u0101) \u2014<\/em>\u00a0equivalent to English \u201ctick-tock\u201d<\/p>\n

\u567c\u556a<\/strong> (p\u012b\u200b p\u0101) \u2014<\/em>\u00a0cracking or slapping sound<\/p>\n

Vowel rhymes<\/h3>\n

Vowel rhymes are where both syllables use the same final.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

\u54d7\u5566<\/strong> (hu\u00e1 la)<\/em> \u2014 crashing or flowing sound of water<\/p>\n

\u8f70\u9686<\/strong><\/a> (h\u014dng l\u00f3ng)<\/em> \u2014 rumbling sound<\/p>\n

\u547c\u565c<\/strong><\/a> (h\u016b l\u016b)<\/em> \u2014 snoring sound<\/p>\n

\u5494\u5693<\/strong> (k\u0101\u200b ch\u0101)<\/em> \u2014 cracking sound<\/p>\n

Other two-character words<\/h3>\n

Some words don’t fall in so easily to the above categories but are still simple two-character onomatopoeias. Such as:<\/p>\n

\u523a\u6e9c<\/a><\/strong> (c\u00ec li\u016b)<\/em> \u2014 sliding sound<\/p>\n

\u560e\u5431<\/strong> (g\u0101 z\u012b)<\/em> \u2014 breaking or creaking sound due to heaviness<\/p>\n

\u6251\u901a<\/strong> (p\u016b t\u014dng)<\/em> \u2014 the sound when heavy objects are landing<\/p>\n

Reduplicated Chinese Onomatopoeia<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reduplicated onomatopoeias repeat certain characters in specific patterns.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is similar to onomatopoeia sounds in English, like how a clicking sound can turn into \u201cclick click,\u201d the sound of rain takes on \u201cpitter patter, pitter patter\u201d or a dog bark sounds like \u201cwoof woof.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of these will be similar to their English counterparts, so you may immediately recognize these sounds.<\/p>\n

AA and AAA<\/h3>\n

\u54c8\u54c8<\/strong> (h\u0101 h\u0101)<\/em> \u2014 laughter sound<\/p>\n

\u547c\u547c<\/strong> (h\u016b h\u016b)<\/em> \u2014 sound of the wind<\/p>\n

\u54d7\u54d7<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(hu\u00e1 hu\u00e1)<\/em> \u2014 sound of water or rain falling<\/p>\n

\u5527\u5527<\/strong> (j\u012b j\u012b)<\/em> \u2014 buzzing or chirping sound, usually related to insects<\/p>\n

\u55b5\u55b5<\/strong> (mi\u0101o mi\u0101o)<\/em> \u2014 meowing sound<\/p>\n

\u54c7\u54c7<\/strong> (w\u0101 w\u0101)<\/em> \u2014 crying sound<\/p>\n

\u65fa\u65fa<\/strong> (w\u00e0ng w\u00e0ng)<\/em> \u2014 the sound of the bark of a dog<\/p>\n

\u563b\u563b<\/strong> (x\u012b x\u012b)<\/em> \u2014 giggling sound<\/p>\n

Any of these onomatopoeic words that take on a AA form can also be transformed to take on the AAA form.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like how \u201chaha\u201d can become \u201chahaha,\u201d a character in AAA form usually represents a more intense version of the sound.<\/p>\n

ABB<\/h3>\n

Words in the ABB form will be composed of a disyllabic word where the second syllable is repeated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

\u5600\u94c3\u94c3<\/strong> (d\u00ed l\u00edng l\u00edng)<\/em> \u2014 telephone ringing sound<\/p>\n

\u5495\u565c\u565c<\/strong> (g\u016b l\u016b l\u016b)<\/em> \u2014 water or rolling sound<\/p>\n

\u8f70\u9686\u9686<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(h\u014dng l\u00f3ng l\u00f3ng)<\/em> \u2014 rumbling noise<\/p>\n

\u54d7\u5566\u5566 <\/strong><\/a>(hu\u00e1 la la)<\/em> \u2014 wind or flowing water sound<\/p>\n

AAB<\/h3>\n

The opposite of words in ABB form, AAB form comprises a disyllabic word whose first syllable is repeated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u53ee\u53ee\u5f53<\/strong> (d\u012bng d\u012bng d\u0101ng) \u2014<\/em>\u00a0the sound when metal strikes on metal, or sounds of bells<\/p>\n

\u4e52\u4e52\u4e53<\/strong> (p\u012bng p\u012bng p\u0101ng) \u2014<\/em>\u00a0the sound that happens when objects strike each other<\/p>\n

AABB<\/h3>\n

Words in AABB form will usually be separated by a hyphen to show the difference between AA and BB.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u6ef4\u6ef4-\u55d2\u55d2<\/strong> (d\u012b d\u012b-d\u0101 d\u0101)<\/em> \u2014 ticking clock sound<\/p>\n

\u5527\u5527-\u5495\u5495<\/strong> (j\u012b j\u012b-g\u016b g\u016b)<\/em> \u2014 whispering sound<\/p>\n

\u53fd\u53fd-\u55b3\u55b3<\/strong> (j\u012b j\u012b-zh\u0101 zh\u0101)<\/em> \u2014 birds chirping sound<\/p>\n

\u567c\u567c-\u556a\u556a<\/strong> (p\u012b\u200b p\u012b\u200b-p\u0101 p\u0101)<\/em> \u2014 patting or slapping sound<\/p>\n

\u4e52\u4e52-\u4e53\u4e53<\/strong> (p\u012bng p\u012bng-p\u0101ng p\u0101ng)<\/em> \u2014 the sound that happens when objects strike each other<\/p>\n

ABAB<\/h3>\n

Onomatopoeias in ABAB form are usually from the simple category above and are duplicated for a dramatized version and effect.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u5600\u55d2\u5600\u55d2<\/strong> (d\u012b d\u0101 d\u012b d\u0101)<\/em> \u2014 ticking clock sound<\/p>\n

\u54d7\u5566\u54d7\u5566<\/strong> (hu\u00e1 la hu\u00e1 la)<\/em> \u2014 wind or flowing water sound<\/p>\n

\u6251\u901a\u6251\u901a<\/strong> (p\u016b t\u014dng p\u016b t\u014dng)<\/em> \u2014 the sound when heavy objects are landing<\/p>\n

Onomatopoeic Words with Infixes<\/h2>\n

A-li BC<\/h3>\n

A-li BC words follow this pattern (based on a word in AB form):<\/p>\n

1. 1st syllable \u2014 1st syllable of a disyllabic word (A)<\/p>\n

2. 2nd syllable \u2014 \u91cc<\/strong> (l\u01d0)<\/em><\/p>\n

3. 3rd syllable \u2014 2nd syllable of a disyllabic word (B)<\/p>\n

4. 4th syllable \u2014 begins with the letter “l” with the same final as the 3rd<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

AB: \u53fd\u5495<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(j\u012b g\u016b)<\/em> \u2014 whisper
\nA-li BC: \u53fd\u91cc\u5495\u565c<\/strong>\u00a0(j\u012b l\u012d g\u016b l\u016b)<\/em> \u2014 whispering sound<\/p>\n

AB: \u567c\u556a<\/strong> (p\u012b\u200b p\u0101)
\n<\/em>A-li BC: \u567c\u91cc\u556a\u5566<\/strong>\u00a0(p\u012b\u200b l\u012d p\u0101 la)<\/em> \u2014 patting or slapping sound<\/p>\n

AB: \u4e52\u4e53<\/strong> (p\u012bng p\u0101ng)
\n<\/em>A-li BC: \u4e52\u91cc\u4e53\u5577<\/strong>\u00a0(p\u012bng l\u012d p\u0101ng l\u0101ng)<\/em> \u2014 the sound that happens when objects strike each other<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With the basic forms and vocabulary in mind, you’ll be able to start using onomatopoeias in your own conversations. Plus, you can see them in use by native Chinese speakers on FluentU<\/a>, which uses subtitled videos to teach the languagr naturally.

FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n

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