wu1嗚呜
Jyutpingwu1
Yalewū
Definition
Onomatopoeia for a toot, hoot, or the sound of sobbing.
- toot; hoot; the sound of a steam engine or siren
- the sound of crying or sobbing
colloquialother
How it's used
Primarily functions as an onomatopoeia for low frequency, sustained sounds like steam whistles or horns. When describing crying, it specifically captures the muffled, whimpering sound of someone sobbing rather than loud, sharp wailing. It is rarely used as a standalone verb in modern speech, appearing most often in reduplicated form as 嗚嗚.
Examples
Related words
Common mistake
Avoid using this to describe high pitched sounds like sirens or whistles, which are better represented by words like 嗶.
Grammar color guide
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Adjective
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Grammar guides
- LocationHow to say where something is using 喺 (hai2), place words like 度, and the common coverbs that work like English prepositions.
- Serial verbsStringing two or more verbs together without any joining word, like go to the shop buy things. Extremely common in Cantonese.
- 將 disposalHow to move the object in front of the verb with 將, to focus on what happens to it. Common in instructions and writing.
