菰 (gū) — wild rice (an aquatic plant with edible seeds)

Definition

Examples

  • 菰。
    Zhè zhǒng gū shēng zhǎng zài nán fāng shuǐ tián lǐ.
    This kind of wild rice grows in southern paddy fields.
  • 菰,。
    gū Mǐ kě yǐ zhǔ zhōu, wèi dào hěn qīng xiāng.
    Wild rice can be cooked into porridge; it has a light fragrance.
  • 菰,。
    Nóng mín zài hú lǐ zhòng zhí gū, qiū tiān shōu huò.
    Farmers plant wild rice in the lake and harvest it in autumn.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艸艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
孤
孤gū菰gū
Same sound today

菰 has 艸, the plant part, with 孤, which gives the sound gū.

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