母乳喂养
mǔ​rǔ​wèi​yǎng

breastfeeding

母 mǔ mother

Pictograph of a woman kneeling, with two dots representing the two nipples that mothers use to feed their young.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

姆拇坶呣鉧

Iconic (2)

后每

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmuwXməʔ (? or *mˤoʔ) mother

說文解字

《說文》：“母，牧也。从女，象褱子形。一曰象乳子也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

乳 rǔ breast, milk

Depicts a mother holding (爫) a child (子) breastfeeding it.

Components

爫
爫 Iconic component
zhǎo hand, claw

爫 is a component form of 爪. Depicts a hand.

子
子 Iconic component
zi, zǐ child
◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a mother breastfeeding.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnyuXnoʔ milk; nipple

說文解字

《說文》：“乳，人及鳥生子曰乳，獸曰產。从孚，从乙。乙者，玄鳥也。《明堂》、《月令》：‘玄鳥至之日，祠于高禖以請子。’故乳从乙。請子必以乙至之日者，乙春分來，秋分去，開生之候鳥，帝少昊司分之官也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

喂 wèi interjection to call attention Simplified

Original meaning: to feed

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

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
畏
畏 Sound component
wèi fear

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

养 yǎng raise Simplified

Simplified form of 養. Phonosemantic compound. 食 represents the meaning and 羊 represents the sound.

Components

羊
羊 Sound component
yáng sheep
介
介 Simplified component
jiè to lie between

Shorthand for the 食 component in the traditional character 養.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

餵 to feed Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 飠 represents the meaning and 畏 represents the sound.

Components

飠
飠 Meaning component
eat

飠 is a component form of 食.

畏
畏 Sound component
wèi fear

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangqrols

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

養 yǎng raise, bring up Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 食 represents the meaning and 羊 represents the sound.

Components

羊
羊 Sound component
yáng sheep
食
食 Meaning component
shí, shi eat

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

癢

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartyangX[ɢ](r)aŋʔ long, longing
yangX[ɢ]aŋʔ nourish, raise

說文解字

《說文》：“養，供養也。从食，羊聲。，古文養。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)