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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

只

zhǐ
only; just; simply; merely
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 2
  • TOCFL 1
  • radical 口
  • 5 strokes
  • 茲
  • 兹

Etymology graph

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

The character 只 is a pictogram representing airflow coming out of a mouth (口). The Shuowen Jiezi describes it as a word used in speech, formed by following the mouth component to depict the shape of air descending. It functions as a modal particle. In its earliest attested forms, including chu, seal, and regular scripts, it carries meanings such as only, just, simply, merely, originally, or at first.

This character serves as the simplified form of 隻, which can mean "one bird" and is a classifier for items like hands or one of a pair. It is also the simplified form of 衹, which is used in the term 衹衼 regarding clothing worn by monks and nuns.

Schuessler suggests the character is possibly Sino-Tibetan. It is considered a cognate of the reconstructed Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-kjaŋ ("single"), which relates to the Tibetan རྐྱང ("single"), Burmese ချင်း ("single"), and Burmese ချည်း ("alone, only, just"). It may also relate to the Kamarupan ke, kʰe ("one").

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

「只」在字形上屬於象形字，描繪從口中呼出的氣流。根據《說文解字》的解釋，它是語氣詞，從「口」，象徵氣流向下引出的形狀。Schuessler (2007) 認為此字可能屬於漢藏語系，並將其與 Kamarupan ke (kʰe，意為「一」) 聯繫起來。

在語源上，「只」被認為是原始漢藏語 *r-kjaŋ（意為「單一」）的同源詞，這與藏語的 རྐྱང (rkyang，意為「單一」) 以及緬甸語的 ချင်း (hkyang:，意為「單一」) 與 ချည်း (hkyany:, 意為「獨自、僅僅、只是」) 有關。此外，「只」在繁體中文中作為「隻」的異體字，用於表示手部量詞或成對物品中的其中一個，但不適用於動物。

根據相關紀錄，「隻」繼承自原始漢藏語 *kV-tek（意為「一」），其字形包含「隹」（短尾鳥）與「又」。「只」同時也是「衹」的簡化形式，而「衹」則用於「衹衼」（僧尼所穿的衣服），其字形包含「氏」與「衤」（衣字旁）。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • simplified fromChinese衹 “used in 衹衼 (“clothing worn by monks and nuns”)”
    • partChinese衤 “Left radical form of 衣 (衣字旁, yīzìpáng)”
    • partChinese氏 “clan; family; lineage; hereditary house”
  • simplified fromChinese隻 “one bird”
    • inheritedProto-Sino-Tibetan*kV-tek “one”
    • ideaChinese隹 “short-tailed bird”
    • ideaChinese又 “again; once more”

Related: Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-kjaŋ, Tibetan རྐྱང, Burmese ချင်း, Burmese ချည်း

Words built on it: 只要, 只有, 只是, 只好, 只能

Wiktionary etymology text
Etymology 1

Pictogram (象形): airflow coming out of a mouth (口) – a modal particle. Compare 四 and 曰.

Schuessler (2007) suggests that it is possibly Sino-Tibetan, relating it to Kamarupan ke, kʰe (“one”), which are perhaps related to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-kjaŋ (“single”), whence Tibetan རྐྱང (rkyang, “single”), Burmese ချင်း (hkyang:, “single”) and Burmese ချည်း (hkyany:, “alone,only, just”).

Etymology 7

For pronunciation and definitions of 只 – see 隻 (“one bird; single; etc.”).

(This character is the simplified and variant traditional form of 隻).

Notes:

Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

In traditional script, 只 (zhī) is a variant of 隻 (zhī) for a subset of its senses such as classifier for hands (highest affinity), one of a pair, etc, but most notably not for animals.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

character
  1. only; just; simply; merely
  2. originally; at first

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

只：語巳詞也。从口，象气下引之形。凡只之屬皆从只。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 量詞。計算物體件數的單位。同「隻」。 例：一只戒指。

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

How 只 was written 字形演變

  1. 只 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  2. 只 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  3. 只 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

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • 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
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 只