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着zháo

Character evolution

着

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Simplified · Today

Shuowen

The character 着 (originally written as 著) combines 艹 (grass radical) with 者 (who), though in oracle bone form the upper portion more closely resembled hair or a headpiece placed upon a person's head. The original meaning was to wear or put on clothing, with the structure depicting something placed upon the body—the act of attaching one thing to another. This sense of contact and attachment later extended to meanings of touching, reaching, and arriving, while also developing into a grammatical marker indicating ongoing action or perfective aspect.

Pinyin

zháo· HSK 2