什么 (shén me) — what; something, anything

Definition

什么 (shénme) is the basic 'what' — used in questions (你叫什么?) and with 都/也 to mean 'anything' (我什么都不吃). 怎么 asks 'how' or 'why', not 'what'.

pronoun

whatsomethinganything

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

The characters in 什么 do not carry independent meanings here; the whole form asks “what”.

Sound-only characters

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 麼; 么 is its simplified writing.

麻幺麼

Meaning part形符xíngfú

幺幺yāosmall, tiny

Sound part声符shēngfú

麻

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 麼 pairs 麻, which gives the sound, with 幺, which means small/tiny; the simplified 么 is a later shorthand.

Appears in