吁
xūyùyū HSK7

interjection 'Alas!'

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 于 represents the sound. Simplified form of 籲.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
于
于 Sound component
yú at

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxjuqʷʰ(r)apained
Zhengzhangqʰʷa
ɢʷas
Unicodexio

說文解字

驚也。从口于聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

籲 yù appeal Traditional

To beg 龥 by playing a bamboo flute ⺮ ; 龥 also provides the pronunciation

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo
龥
龥 SoundMeaning component
yù beg

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhanglos

說文解字

《說文》：“，呼也。从頁，籥聲，讀與籥同。《商書》曰：‘率眾戚。’”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)