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酒jiǔ

Character evolution

酒

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Simplified · Today

Shuowen

Wine. The character combines 氵 (the water radical, indicating a liquid) with 酉 (originally depicting a wine jar with a wide body and narrow neck, used for fermentation). In the earliest oracle bone inscriptions, the character appeared as 酉 with liquid dots inside to show it was a beverage; the water radical was added later to emphasize its liquid nature. All wine-related characters in Chinese derive from this root.

Pinyin

jiǔ· HSK 1