Chinese Language Learning Program Lesson 149 – Onomatopoeia in Chinese

Chinese Language Learning Program

Lesson 149 – Onomatopoeia in Chinese

Hello, everyone. Welcome back. This is Baixue’s Chinese Language Learning Program. Last time we talked about a Chinese poem. Today, we will talk about Onomatopoeic words in Chinese.

xiàng shēng cí

   象        声    词 (Onomatopoeia)

An Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound of a thing or an action. For example:

hū hū

 呼 呼 (the sound of the wind)

huā huā

  哗   哗 (the sound of the flowing water)

dīng dāng

  叮      当 (Ding-dong! jingle ! Clink of metal or porcelain ware)

hā ha

哈  哈 (Ha ha; sound of laugh)

pū tōng

 扑  通 

(flop; thump; splash. The sound of a big weight falling onto the ground or into the water.)

Grammatical features and functions:

1. Onomatopoeia is only words that imitate the sound they denote, they do not really have meanings. So, they can be separated from the sentence. For example:

hōng lóng lóng, dǎ léi le.

   轰      隆    隆， 打 雷 了。(Rumble of thunder.)

pū tōng, bái xuě diào dào shuǐ lǐ le.

 扑   通， 白    雪    掉    到     水 里了。

(Splash, Bai Xue falls into the water.)

2. Can be used as an adverbial adjunct.

shuǐ huā huā di liú zhe.

   水    哗   哗  地 流   着。(The water keeps flowing.)

lǎo rén hā hā di xiào le.

 老   人  哈  哈 地  笑   了。(The old man laughs.)

3. Be used as an attributive.

tā pū tōng yī shēng  tiào jìn le shuǐ lǐ.

他 扑    通  一     声       跳  进 了   水  里。

(He jumped into the water with a splash.)

hū hū de běi fēng chuī de rén zhēn lěng.

 呼 呼  的  北    风      吹  的  人     真     冷。

(The Whistling North wind makes people feel cold.)

4. An Onomatopoeia can be used with numeral

·  Usually, when an Onomatopoeia is used as an adverbial adjunct, the particle “地” is used in the sentence. But when an Onomatopoeia is used with a numeral, no “地” is necessary. For example:

běi fēng hū hū di guā zhe.

 北   风    呼  呼  地  刮    着。

(The north wind whistles.)

qīng wā pū tōng yī shēng tiào huí shuǐ zhōng.

  青    蛙  扑    通  一     声     跳    回    水     中。

(The frog plopped back into the water.)

·   Usually, when an Onomatopoeia is used as an attribute to a noun, the particle “的” is used in the sentence. But when an Onomatopoeia is used with a numeral, “的” is generally  unnecessary. For example:

tā gē gē de xiào shēng gǎn rǎn le wǒ.

她 咯  咯 的   笑       声      感   染  了  我。

(Her giggles infected me.)

měi tiān zǎo shang, wǒ de shǒu jī jiù huì “ dí dí dí ” 

  每   天    早     上，   我  的    手  机 就  会“ 嘀嘀嘀”  

sān shēng xiǎng, měi cì dōu xià wǒ yī tiào.

 三   声       响,     每  次  都    吓  我 一  跳。

            (Every morning, my phone will "beep beep beep" three 

             sound which scares me every time.)

5. Some Onomatopoeia can be reduplicated.  For example:

huā lā huā lā

  哗  啦  哗  啦 (Walla-Walla; raining cats)

huā lā lā

  哗 啦 啦

dīng dāng dīng dāng

  叮      当     叮      当 (ding dong, ding dong; jingle jingle)

dīng dīng dāng dāng

  叮     叮      当     当

dīng dīng dāng

  叮     叮     当

pīng pīng pāng pāng

  乒     乒     乓      乓 (Plink Plank Plunk)

pīng pīng pāng pāng

  乒     乒     乓      乓

Ok, that is all for today.

xiè  xiè!

 谢   谢 ! (Thanks!)

xià  cì  jiàn

 下  次  见!  (See you next time!)