呵呵

呵呵

Chinese

		phonetic
simp. and trad. (呵呵)		呵	呵
alternative forms		ㄏㄏ slang

Etymology

Onomatopoeic. Compare English haha. Partly replaced by modern 哈哈 (hāhā) due to sound shift 呵 (MC hɑ) > 呵 (hē).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): hēhē

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄜ ㄏㄜ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ho¹ ho¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: hēhē
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄜ ㄏㄜ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: hehe
    • Wade–Giles: ho¹-ho¹
    • Yale: hē-hē
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: hehe
    • Palladius: хэхэ (xɛxɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xɤ⁵⁵ xɤ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: ho¹ ho¹
    • Yale: hō hō
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ho¹ ho¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: ho¹ ho¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɔː⁵⁵ hɔː⁵⁵/

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• Middle Chinese: /hɑ  hɑ/

Rime
Character	呵
Reading #	1/2
Initial (聲)	曉 (32)
Final (韻)	歌 (94)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	虎何切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/hɑ/
Pan Wuyun	/hɑ/
Shao Rongfen	/xɑ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ha/
Li Rong	/xɑ/
Wang Li	/xɑ/
Bernard Karlgren	/xɑ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	hē
Expected Cantonese Reflex	ho1

Interjection

呵呵

1. (onomatopoeia) sound of laughter

   • 近作小詞，雖無柳七郎風味，亦自是一家。呵呵。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     近作小词，虽无柳七郎风味，亦自是一家。呵呵。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: c. late 11th century, Su Shi (蘇軾), Letter to Xianyu Zijun (《與鮮于子駿》)

     Jìn zuò xiǎocí, suīwú Liǔ Qīláng fēngwèi, yì zìshì yījiā. Hēhē. [Pinyin]

     Recently I wrote some little ci poems. Though hardly comparable to Mister Liu's style, they're in my own character. Haha!

2. (onomatopoeia, ironic) sound of derisive or perfunctory laughter

   呵呵，你不行。  ―  Hēhē, nǐ bùxíng.  ―  Heh, you aren't up to it.

Derived terms

呵呵大笑 (hēhē dàxiào) 笑呵呵 (xiàohēhē)

呵呵噠／呵呵哒 (hēhēdā) 樂呵呵／乐呵呵

Suffix

呵呵

1. an expressive suffix for adjectives

Derived terms

傻呵呵 (sháhēhē) 冷呵呵 怔呵呵

胖呵呵 樂呵呵／乐呵呵

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Japanese

Kanji in this term
呵	呵
か Hyōgaiji	か Hyōgaiji
on’yomi

Alternative spelling
呵々

Etymology

Ultimately from Middle Chinese 呵呵 (MC hɑ hɑ).

First cited to a text from roughly 900 CE.[1]

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) か​か [káꜜkà] (Atamadaka – [1])[2][3]
• IPA^(key): [ka̠ka̠]

Adverb

呵(か)呵(か) • (kaka) 

1. (literary) laughingly

   Synonyms: あはは (ahaha), からから (karakara)

Derived terms

• 呵(か)呵(か)然(ぜん) (kakazen, “laughing”, adjective)
• 呵(か)呵(か)大(たい)笑(しょう) (kaka taishō, “a belly laugh, a guffaw”, noun)

References

1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
3. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN