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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

走

zǒu
to go; to walk; to go on foot
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 1
  • radical 走
  • 7 strokes

Etymology graph

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  • borrowed
  • derived
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  • meaning component
  • sound component
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Origin

The character functions as a pictogram representing a running man. Later, the component 止 (foot) was added to the form. The Shuowen Jiezi glosses the character as 趨也 (to run or hasten) and notes that the combination of 夭 and 止 signifies bending or crouching. The modern script uses components that are stylistically different from the original, with the top part simplified to the unrelated 土 and the bottom part appearing as 龰.

Schuessler (2007) suggests this character belongs to a large Sino-Tibetan word family derived from the Proto-Sino-Tibetan reconstruction *m-sow (“to arise; to awake”). This family includes words such as 搜 (OC *sru, “to move”), 速 (OC *sloːɡ, “quick”), 夙 (OC *suɡ, “morning”), 聳 (OC *sloŋʔ, “to excite”), and 蔌 (OC *sloːɡ, “vegetables”).

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

「走」字最早見於甲骨文、金文、楚文字，隨後發展至小篆與楷書。從構成成分來看，此字包含「十」與「疋」（腳）等圖形組件。在字形演變過程中，現代字形的上部組件（夭）被簡化為與原意無關的「土」，下部則風格化為「龰」，其上部組件亦與「去」及「赤」字相似。

關於其詞源，Schuessler (2007) 認為此字可能屬於一個龐大的漢藏語詞族，包含「搜」（上古音 *sru，意為移動）、「速」（上古音 *sloːɡ，意為快速）、「夙」（上古音 *suɡ，意為早晨）、「聳」（上古音 *sloŋʔ，意為激動）及「蔌」（上古音 *sloːɡ，意為蔬菜）等字，這些字皆源自原始漢藏語的 *m-sow（意為出現或覺醒）。

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

Lineage

  • partChinese十 “ten”
  • partChinese疋 “foot”

Words built on it: 起, 越, 走路, 趕

Wiktionary etymology text

Pictogram (象形): a running man. An additional 止 (“foot”) was added later. The variant form 𧺆 preserves the form in the Small Seal Script.

In the modern form, the top component (夭) is simplified to the unrelated 土 and the bottom part is stylized as 龰. See also the top component of 去 and 赤.

As with 圭, there are two separate vertical strokes, not a single one.

Schuessler (2007) considers this to be part of a large Sino-Tibetan word family, including 搜 (OC *sru, “to move”), 速 (OC *sloːɡ, “quick”), 夙 (OC *suɡ, “morning”), 聳 (OC *sloŋʔ, “to excite”), 蔌 (OC *sloːɡ, “vegetables”), which derive from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-sow (“to arise; to awake”).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

character
  1. to go; to walk; to go on foot
  2. to run; to jog
  3. to leave; to go away
  4. to run away; to flee
  5. to reveal; to divulge; to leak
  6. to leak; to let out

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

走：趨也。从夭、止。夭止者，屈也。凡走之屬皆从走。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 步行。即以兩腳腳掌交互提起、放下的前進動作。 例：走路、走往　◎
  2. 奔跑。 例：兔走觸株，折頸而死。（《韓非子．五蠹》）
  3. 離去。 例：我明天就要走了。
  4. 移動、挪動。 例：這步棋走錯了。
  5. 喪失、變動。 例：走味、走樣、走調
  6. 洩露。 例：走了風聲

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

How 走 was written 字形演變

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