Zi:又

又 [yòu] again; and; both ... and ...; (radical 29, 又部); (姓); (古) 右: 右手; 宥; 祐: 福 [yǒu] 有

One monosyllabic entry in The ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary (namespace Ci):

►¹yòu 又 {A} adv. again; moreover ‖ ∼ guòle yī̠ tiān ∼过了一天 another day passed ‖ ∼ shì tā. ∼是他。 It's him again. (disapprovingly) ◆conj. ①and; in addition ‖ sān ∼ wǔ fēnzhī sì 三∼五分之四 three and four-fifths ②but; on the other hand ‖ Wǒ xiạ̌ng mǎi, ∼ pà tài guì. 我想买, ∼怕太贵。 I thought of buying it, but was afraid that it was too expensive. ◆cons. ∼ A ∼ B both A and B ‖ ∼ piányi ∼ hǎo ∼便宜∼好 cheap as well as good

The character 又 yòu ‘again; and’ (2 strokes) is an old abbrev. character and component derived from old pictographs depicting a ‘human (right) hand’; modern usage is rather different.
    Note: Modern usage of 又 yòu ‘again; and’ reflects historical change involving several characters (右 yòu ‘right hand/side’, 佑 yòu ‘help’, and 有 yǒu ‘have’) all formerly wr. 又 (see below).
    Note: The simple-form component 又 is used to replace various different complex full-form components.
    Compare: 观/觀, 权/權, 欢/歡, 劝/勸; 对/對, 难/難, 鸡/雞, 聂/聶, 轰/轟, 圣/聖.
    The Shuōwén Seal form of 又 yòu ‘(strong/dominant) right hand’ is an abbrev. of the pictograph 手 shǒu ‘hand’, with 3 fingers (index, middle, and thumb) instead of all 5, and with the forearm at the right (drawn from the perspective of looking at one's own right hand); it is the reverse of 𠂇(左) ‘left (hand/side)’ (mirrored, flipped horizontally).
    Note: 右(𠮢) yòu ‘right (hand/side)’, formerly wr. 又 yòu ‘right (hand/side)’; today mainly 又 yòu ‘again; and’ (又 no longer means ‘right hand’, except as a component).
    Note: 佑 yòu ‘help’, formerly wr. 右(𠮢) yòu ‘help’ (today 右 no longer means ‘help’, it is replaced in that sense by the augmented form 佑).
    Note: 有(𪠥) yǒu ‘have’, formerly wr. 又 in very old inscriptions (and today still sometimes 有 yòu ‘and/also’, in numeric expressions such as 六十有四卦).
    Note: The abbrev. of 手 as 又 anticipated Disney animators drawing the hands of Mickey Mouse (with 3 fingers and a thumb) by many thousands of years; Disney reportedly did it for financial reasons (since it was cheaper); the inventors of Ch. writing did it because it is faster to write 又 (2 strokes) than 手 (4 strokes); the pronunciation and usage of 又 yòu and 手 shǒu are distinct, but the morphemes are perhaps historically related.
    Compare: 又 yòu ← MC /ɣjus/ (SBGY), OC /wjɨ(k)s/ (Baxter).
    Compare: 有(𪠥) yǒu ← MC /ɣjuʔ/ (SBGY), OC /wjɨʔ/ (Baxter).
    Compare: 手(𡴤) shǒu ← MC /ɕjuʔ/ (SBGY), OC /hjuʔ/ (Baxter).
    Compare: 友(㕛) yǒu ‘friends’; 右(𠮢) yòu ‘right (hand/side)’.
    Compare: 求(𧚍) qiú ‘seek’; 廾(𠬞) gǒng ‘upraised/respectful hands’.
    Compare: 屮 chè ‘sprout’, 艸 cǎo ‘grass/herb’.
►references: Guǎngyùn:434.20; Wieger:43b; Karlgren:AD249,GSR995a; Hànyǔ Dà Zìdiǎn:1.390.1; Mathews:7539; Kāngxī Zìdiǎn:164.43; Bǐshùn Guīfàn:002.0.02; Wáng(1993):17; EDOC:1
►components: ㇇㇏
►Cantonese: yauh-
►stroke 又 (... strokes)
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Unicode: U+53C8
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