哥gē

哥

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Simplified · Today

简体

Simplified Chinese

Simplified and traditional are identical. 哥 (gē, "older brother") stacks two 可 components, originally depicting two figures standing together — perhaps brothers, perhaps singers in ancient ritual. This visual pairing became the phonetic foundation for 歌 (song), where an added mouth radical transformed the brother into a melody.

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Shuowen

The character 哥 is formed by stacking two 可 components one above the other, a structure already present in oracle bone inscriptions. Originally a phonetic loan from 可 (meaning "possible" or "to approve"), it came to denote "older brother" in ancient Chinese, possibly because the doubled element suggested seniority or precedence among siblings; the word later became the standard term for elder brother in modern Chinese.

Pinyin

gē· HSK 1

哥gē

Character evolution

Shuowen

Pinyin