兮
January 8, 2022 Leave a comment
We have learnt 乎 before and now we are going to examine its close relatives: 兮. From their modern form, we probably would not be able to tell how close they are, but if we compare their Oracle scripts, it will become obvious.
Oracle script of 乎: . Detailed explanation of 乎 can be found at https://xiongzou.blogspot.com/2020/07/blog-post.html
Oracle script of 兮:
We know that of is to represent air flow that produces load sound. Now comparing with , we can tell that should be drawn to represent a sound that is lower than .
Before we move on to conclusion, let us examine 兮’s evolution history:
兮 means to produce a lower sound than 乎, probably a sound at the level of a sigh. normally used as a modal particle per Chinese grammar, like 乎.
That is all for 兮, time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with it inside: