A Corpus-based Diachronic Study of Laughter Onomatopeia in Chinese

In Chinese laughter onomatopoeia, words imitate the sound of laughter and often describe facial expressions or the smile. A wide range of characters represents different categories of laughter in classical Chinese literature. Although many previous studies have focused on the etymology and semantic changes of specific LO, such as haha (Zhang 2024; Luo 2017), few studies have systematically explored the evolution of all Chinese LO. This study collects Chinese LO from a corpus to examine uses of Chinese characters to express LO, and to research morphological structures and semantic changes of LO across Chinese dynasties. The findings suggest that LO originated from interjections such as xi (嘻) and he (呵). Over time, varied patterns such as two-syllable combinations and repeated forms, increased the vividness of laughter expressions. By analyzing the semantic functions and structural shifts of LO across historical periods, in this study I provide empirical support for typological research on Chinese onomatopoeia.