孤 (gū) — (bound form) solitary, isolated, alone; (bound form) orphaned, orphan; (historical) I, my (used by emperors and princes in self-reference)
Definition
孤 (gū) is a bound literary morph meaning 'solitary/orphaned' — it almost never stands alone. It combines with 独 (孤独, 'lonely') and 儿 (孤儿, 'orphan'); emperors used 孤家 in formal self-reference.
bound form
solitaryisolatedaloneorphanedorphan(historical) Imy (used by emperors and princes in self-reference)
Examples
- 。Tā gǎn dào fēi cháng gū dú.He feels very lonely.
- ，。Tā cóng xiǎo jiù chéng le gū ér, méi yǒu fù mǔ.He became an orphan from a young age and has no parents.
- ，孤。Zài gǔ dài, huáng dì zì chēng gū jiā.In ancient times, the emperor called himself 'the solitary one'.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
孤 uses 子 (child) to show a child, and 瓜 to give the sound.
Appears in
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