么mó

么

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Simplified · Today

简体

Simplified Chinese

Modern simplified form (簡體). 么 (mó) is a simplified character borrowed from the ancient radical 幺, which depicted a tiny twisted thread — so fine it barely registers as silk at all. In simplified Chinese it appears most famously in 什么 ("what"), where its humble thread-like form carries the weight of endless questions.

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Shuowen

Small. The oracle bone form of 么 resembles a tiny seed or a small dot, a simple pictograph representing something extremely small. The original meaning is "small" or "tiny", and the shape is used because it visually depicts a minute object, symbolizing smallness. The character later became a radical for "private" (as in 私) and a phonetic component, but its original sense of smallness is still reflected in words like "么么" (tiny) and in the simplified form of "私".

Pinyin

mó· HSK 1

么mó

Character evolution

Shuowen

Pinyin