哇

哇 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+6, 9 strokes, cangjie input 口土土 (RGG), four-corner 6401₄, composition ⿰口圭)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 189, character 5
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3593
• Dae Jaweon: page 408, character 11
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 611, character 5
• Unihan data for U+54C7

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qreː, *qʷraː) : semantic 口 + phonetic 圭 (OC *kʷeː).

Originally, the phonetic component is not related to the concept of earth (土) since in its original form it represents a pair of ritual axes perhaps made of jade 士. Hence, the link to the concept of earth in this character either comes from folk etymology or its appearence in the Small Seal script.

哇

1. Interjection indicating surprise or amazement: wow!, gee

   哇！你的樣子太酷了！ [MSC, trad.]
   哇！你的样子太酷了！ [MSC, simp.]

   Wā! Nǐ de yàngzi tài kù le! [Pinyin]

   Wow! You look terrific!

2. (onomatopoeia) sound of crying
3. (onomatopoeia) sound of vomiting
4. (Classical) to vomit

   其兄自外至，曰：『是鶃鶃之肉也。』出而哇之。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
   其兄自外至，曰：『是𱊄𱊄之肉也。』出而哇之。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

   From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

   Qí xiōng zì wài zhì, yuē: ‘Shì yìyì zhī ròu yě.’ Chū ér wā zhī. [Pinyin]

   Just then his brother came into the house, and said, "It is the flesh of that cackling thing," upon which he went out and vomited it.

5. Sentence-final particle: Equivalent of 啊 (a). Only used after words ending in -u, -ao.

   好哇！  ―  Hǎo wa!  ―  hurray!

• (wow): (Cantonese) 嘩／哗
• (sentence-final particle):
  • 啊 (ā) after -ng, ci, zi, si, chi, zhi, shi
  • 呀 (yā) after -a, -o, -e, -i, -ü
  • 哪 (nǎ) after -n

(Hyōgai kanji)

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• Go-on: え (e)^{←ゑ (we, historical)}
• Kan-on: あい (ai)、わ (wa)
• Kun: よこしま (yokoshima)、はく (haku, 哇く)、むせぶ (musebu)

哇 (eum 와 (wa))

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哇: Hán Nôm readings: oa, òa/oà

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.