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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

左

zuǒ
left (direction)
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 1
  • radical 工
  • 5 strokes

Etymology graph

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

Originally written 𠂇 and 䶹 in the oracle bone script: Pictogram (象形) – a left hand. Compare 又 (“right hand”).

Late bronze inscription forms show an added 工 (“work; to assist?”) component, making the current form a phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ʔsaːlʔ, *ʔsaːls) and ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): phonetic 𠂇 (“left hand”) + semantic 工 (“work”), representing the original form of 佐 (OC *ʔsaːls, “to assist”).

Cognate with 佐 (OC *ʔsaːls, “to assist”) (< be on one's left side); mirror of the semantic relationship between 右 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ, “right”) and 佑 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “to assist”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Unrelated to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *b(w)aj (“left (hand)”) (STEDT).

; “(politics) left-wing”

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • soundChinese𠂇 “hand”
  • meaningChinese工 “labour; work (Classifier: 份 c)”

Words built on it: 左右

Meanings

character
  1. left (direction)
  2. below
  3. east; areas to the east
  4. port
  5. inferior position
  6. unorthodox; wrong

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

左：手相左助也。从𠂇、工。凡左之屬皆从左。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 面朝北時，在西邊的方向、位置。與「右」相對。 例：左方、左轉、左手　◎
  2. 地理位置上，指面向南時的東邊。與「右」相對。 例：山左、江左
  3. 政治思想屬急進的、偏激的。與「右」相對。 例：左派、左翼、左傾
  4. 偏差、不正的。 例：想左了、旁門左道
  5. 違背。 例：他們倆因意見相左而吵起架來。
  6. 姓。

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

How 左 was written 字形演變

  1. 左 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 左 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 左 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 左 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  5. 左 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  6. 左 in Clerical script
    Clerical
    隸書
    Han
  7. 左 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
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 左