字母 (zì mǔ) — letter (of the alphabet) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

字母 means a letter of an (alphabetic) alphabet, like 'a' or 'B' — not a Chinese 字 (character). For a letter sent by mail, use 信 or 信件.

noun

letter (of the alphabet)

Measure word · 个

Examples

字母？
Zhè ge zì mǔ de fā yīn shì shén me?
What is the pronunciation of this letter?
，字母。
Zài hàn yǔ zhōng, měi gè zì mǔ dōu yǒu zì jǐ de xíng zhuàng.
In Chinese, each letter has its own shape.
。
Tā yì biān xiě zì mǔ yì biān dú chū lái.
He writes letters and reads them out at the same time.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

字zìcharacter

母mǔmother

字母 names alphabet letters: 字 refers to characters, and 母 means mother, the basic element of a script.

Characters in this word

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

宀子字

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀miánroof

Sound part声符shēngfú

子

子zǐ字zì

Same sound today

字 pairs 宀 (roof) with 子 (child); 子 gives the sound, while 宀 relates to the meaning.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Language 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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