creaking sound; babbling
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
2 senses · 7 examplesonomatopoeia
creaking or squeaking sound (of rubbing objects)
Often reduplicated as 咿咿呀呀 to indicate a continuous or repeated sound.
Lú芦
wěi苇
dàng荡
lǐ里
chuán传
chū出
yī咿
yā呀
de的
jiǎng桨
shēng声
。
The sound of creaking oars came from the reed marsh.
Gé隔
bì壁
chuán传
lái来
yī咿
yī咿
yā呀
yā呀
de的
hú胡
qín琴
shēng声
。
The sound of the whining erhu came from next door.
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Mù木
mén门
fā发
chū出
yī咿
yā呀
yī一
shēng声
，
huǎn缓
huǎn缓
dǎ打
kāi开
le了
。
The wooden door let out a creak and slowly opened.
Yáo摇
lǔ橹
shēng声
yī咿
yā呀
，
xiǎo小
chuán船
màn慢
màn慢
shǐ驶
chū出
le了
gǎng港
wān湾
。
To the sound of creaking oars, the small boat slowly sailed out of the harbor.
onomatopoeia
babbling sound (of infants learning to speak)
Commonly used in the phrase 咿呀学语 to describe a baby's early attempts at speech.
Yīng婴
ér儿
zhèng正
yī咿
yā呀
xué学
yǔ语
，
shí十
fēn分
kě可
ài爱
。
The baby is babbling and learning to speak, very cute.
Tā她
hái还
jì记
de得
hái孩
zi子
dāng当
chū初
yī咿
yā呀
xué学
yǔ语
de的
yàng样
zi子
。
She still remembers how her child babbled when first learning to speak.
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Xiǎo小
bǎo宝
bao宝
yī咿
yī咿
yā呀
yā呀
de地
jiào叫
zhe着
mā妈
ma妈
。
The little baby is calling 'mama' in babbling sounds.