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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

又

yòu
again; once more
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 2
  • TOCFL 2
  • radical 又
  • 2 strokes

Etymology graph

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Origin

Pictogram (象形) – a right hand. Original form of 右 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ, *ɢʷɯs, “right”). Unrelated to 𠬤 (> 译).

Often written as ⺕ in many modern characters such as 事, 聿, 雪, 急, 爭, 尹, and 建 (which is unrelated to 聿).

Adverbial derivation of 有 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ, “to have; there is”) (Schuessler, 2007).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

Words built on it: 有, 對, 事, 為, 隻, 度, 雙, 受, 殺, 付, 取, 支

Meanings

character
  1. again; once more
  2. Used to express the coexistence of several conditions or qualities; both ... and ...
  3. also; in addition
  4. Used between a whole number and a fraction
  5. but; on the other hand
  6. Used in negative statements and rhetorical questions for emphasis

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

又：手也。象形。三指者，手之𠛱多略不過三也。凡又之屬皆从又。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 重複、反覆。 例：這幅設計圖他看了又看，還是不滿意。
  2. 並、且。 例：他又不是三歲小孩子，怎麼這麼不懂事？
  3. 更。 例：他的病又加重了。
  4. 額外的、分外的。 例：中秋的月亮又大又圓。
  5. 另加上。 例：四又三分之一

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 又 was written 字形演變

  1. 又 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 又 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 又 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 又 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  5. 又 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  6. 又 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 又