kǎo
axe handle
Pictograph of an axe handle.
Evolution

Oracle script
(~1250-1000 BC)
Bronze script
Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)
Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)Regular script
ModernDefinitions
kǎo
obstruction of breath (qi) as it seeks release; variant of other characters; axe handle; "breath" or "sigh" component in Chinese characters
Component uses
Meaning component in 1 character (0 verified)
Historical pronunciation
Old Chinese | Middle Chinese | Pinyin | Gloss |
*C.qʰˤuʔ (Shuōwén; no pre-Qín exx.) | khawX | kǎo | to sob |
Statistics
Not found in HSK word list
Miscellaneous
Strokes | 2 |
Unicode | U+4E02 |
Shuowen | “丂,气欲舒出,勹上礙於一也。丂,古文以為亏字,又以為巧字。” |
Sources
季旭昇《說文新證》p.391
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