Dong Chinese dictionary

yǎ, yā

dumb

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 亞 represents the sound.

Components

口 Meaning component

kǒu

mouth

亞 Sound component

yà

Asia

Evolution

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

yǎ

dumb, mute; become hoarse; dumb; mute; hoarse; husky; unexploded (of artillery shell etc)

yā

(onom.) sound of cawing; sound of infant learning to talk; variant of 呀[yā]

Most common words with 啞

Sources