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央 (yāng) — to entreat, to beg (in 央求); center, middle (in 中央); (literary) end, finish (in 未央)

Definition

Bound form: learners meet 央 only inside compounds like 中央 ('central/center'), 央求 ('to beg earnestly'), and the literary 未央 ('not yet ended'). It has no standalone use.

bound form
to entreatto beg (in 央求)centermiddle (in 中央)(literary) endfinish (in 未央)

Examples

  • 。
    Tā xiàng wǒ yāng qiú bāng zhù.
    He begged me for help.
  • 央。
    Zhè ge guó jiā de yāng zhèng fǔ zài běi jīng.
    The central government of this country is in Beijing.
  • “央”。
    Gǔ shī zhōng shuō "yè wèi yāng".
    In ancient poetry, it says "the night is not yet over."

Origin

Pictograph
六书liùshū
象形xiàngxíng

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

央 may have originally drawn a man with his neck in shackles. It was borrowed for its sound to write “center,” so that picture is unrelated to the modern meaning.

Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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