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Kotomora

喔

descriptive of the crying of a crow

Strokes12

Readings

On'yomi

  • アク
  • ラク
  • オク

Kun'yomi

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Meaning

喔 is a rare kanji that describes the sound of a crow crying. Its meaning is narrowly onomatopoeic, with no broader conceptual center.

Study

Etymology

喔 combines 口 (mouth) with 屋, which likely contributes the sound. The character is used to represent the crying of a crow, making it a phono-semantic compound where 口 indicates a vocal sound.

Meaning mnemonic

The mouth radical 口 on the left suggests a sound, and the right side 屋 looks like a roof over a bird-like shape. Imagine a crow perched under a roof, opening its mouth to cry: 喔 is that crow's caw.

Reading mnemonic

For アク, picture a crow crying 'ack! ack!' under the roof: ack -> アク, and the mouth 口 makes the sound.