哑 (yā): (onom.) sound of cawing, sound of infant learning to talk, mute, dumb, incapable of speech
哑 (yā) is a Chinese character meaning “(onom.) sound of cawing.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (semantic) and 亚 (phonetic). It ranks #2298 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 哑 mouth. Its radical form 口 (mouth) appears in many related characters such as 口 (kǒu, mouth), 叫 (jiào, to call, to be called), 右 (yòu, (bound form) right).
Definitions
- (onom.) sound of cawing
- sound of infant learning to talk
- mute
- dumb
- incapable of speech
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 哑 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 哑巴 | yǎ ba | a mute |
| 哑剧 | yǎ jù | pantomime |
| 沙哑 | shā yǎ | hoarse |
| 聋哑人 | lóng yǎ rén | person who is deaf and nonverbal |
| 哑铃 | yǎ líng | dumbbell (weight) |
| 聋哑 | lóng yǎ | deaf and nonverbal |
| 哑谜 | yǎ mí | puzzle |
| 装聋作哑 | zhuāng lóng zuò yǎ | to play deaf-mute |
| 嘶哑 | sī yǎ | (onom.) coarse crowing |
| 哑语 | yǎ yǔ | sign language |
| 哑然失笑 | yǎ rán shī xiào | to laugh involuntarily |
| 吃哑巴亏 | chī yǎ ba kuī | to be forced to suffer in silence |
| 哑巴吃黄连，有苦说不出 | yǎ ba chī huáng lián , yǒu kǔ shuō bu chū | to be forced to suffer in silence (idiom) |
| 哑口无言 | yǎ kǒu wú yán | dumbstruck and unable to reply (idiom) |
| 哑巴吃黄连 | yǎ ba chī huáng lián | no choice but to suffer in silence (idiom) |
哑 appears in 29 compound words: 59 as the first character, 21 as the last, and 21 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 哑 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Example Sentences
请哑下这杯茶，解解渴再继续工作。
qǐng yā xià zhè bēi chá , xiè xiè kě zài jì xù gōng zuò .
Please take a sip of this tea to quench your thirst before continuing your work.
...白春节鹿港老街卖饼 累到双耳耳鸣、声音沙哑
. . . bái chūn jié lù gǎng lǎo jiē mài bǐng lěi dào shuāng ěr ěr míng , shēng yīn shā yā
... Selling cakes in Lukang Old Street during the Spring Festival is so tired that my ears have tinnitus and my voice is hoarse
海伦凯勒眼盲，耳聋，又哑。
Hǎilún kǎi lè yǎn máng, ěrlóng, yòu yā.
Helen Keller was blind, deaf and dumb.
聋哑的人用手语说话。
Lóngyǎ de rén yòng shǒuyǔ shuōhuà.
Deaf-mute people talk using sign language.
他们全都叫到沙哑了。
Tāmen quándōu jiào dào shāyǎ le.
They were all hoarse from shouting.
她注视着一个不明飞行物，哑口无言。
Tā zhùshì zhe yī gè bùmíngfēixíngwù, yǎkǒuwúyán.
She stared at a UFO in silence.
长号:狂野可能有趣，但尽量不要发出粗哑的音符。
Chánghào: kuángyě kěnéng yǒuqù, dàn jìnliàng bù yào fāchū cūyǎ de yīnfú.
Trombones: it may be fun to go wild, but try not to blat the notes.
早上起来，嗓子变得很沙哑，我想是不是感冒了。
Zǎoshang qǐlai, sǎngzi biànde hěn shāyǎ, wǒ xiǎng shìbùshì gǎnmào le.
I've had a scratchy throat since this morning. I wonder if I've caught a cold.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 哑 (yā) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 哑 and 恶?
How many strokes does 哑 have?
What is the radical of 哑?
What are the components of 哑?
What are common words containing 哑?
What characters sound the same as 哑 (yā)?
Is 哑 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 哑 with real-time feedback
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