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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

口

kǒu
mouth, especially the lips and internal mouth cavity (Classifier: 把 c)
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 4
  • radical 口
  • 3 strokes

Etymology graph

  • inherited
  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
  • related
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Origin

Pictogram (象形) – resembles an open mouth.

In the oracle bone script, radical 口 is used for characters having abstract meanings. Such a character can have a figurative meaning derived from the phonetic part, e.g. 右 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ, *ɢʷɯs, “right”) = 又 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “right hand”) + 口 and 𪪺 (“strong; powerful”) = 弓 (OC *kʷɯŋ, “bow”) + 口, or be an unrelated borrowing, e.g. 否 (OC *brɯʔ, *pɯʔ, “no”) = 不 (OC *pɯ, *pɯʔ, *pɯ', “calyx”) + 口.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ku(w) (“mouth”). Cognate with Garo ku·sik (“mouth”), Tangut 𗋈 (*ŋwu², “mouth”).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • partChinese丨 “To connect vertically; to pass through from top to bottom.”
  • inheritedProto-Sino-Tibetan*ku(w) “mouth”
  • partChinese乛
  • partChinese一 “one”

Related: Garo ku·sik, Tangut 𗋈

Words built on it: 和, 嗎, 去, 日, 聽, 呢, 高, 吃, 問, 向, 啊, 叫

Meanings

character
  1. mouth, especially the lips and internal mouth cavity (Classifier: 把 c)
  2. entrance; opening; mouth (of an object)
  3. gateway; mountain pass
  4. hole; cut
  5. blade; edge of a knife
  6. port

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

口：人所以言食也。象形。凡口之屬皆从口。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 人或動物飲食的器官，有的同時是發聲器官的一部分。 例：張口、閉口　△嘴
  2. 容器與外面相通的地方。 例：瓶口、槍口、碗口
  3. 供出入通過的地方。 例：門口、港口、巷口
  4. 關隘。常用於地名。 例：古北口、喜峰口、張家口
  5. 兵器或工具上的鋒刃。 例：刀口、劍口
  6. 破裂的地方。 例：裂口、缺口、傷口

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

How 口 was written 字形演變

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

  • Structural decomposition (chaizi) — See upstream
  • 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: 口