About
The character "仅" originates from its traditional form "僅", which is composed of the semantic component 人 (person) and the phonetic component 堇, with the latter also carrying connotations of difficulty or scarcity. This structure originally conveyed the sense of "barely sufficient" or "scarcely", referring to a minimal adequacy in relation to human capacity or need. Over time, its meaning broadened from describing tangible insufficiency to functioning as a general limiter, taking on the adverbial meanings of "only", "just", or "merely". The simplified form "仅" retains the 人 component but replaces the complex 堇 with 又, which in this context serves primarily as a simplified graphical marker rather than retaining phonetic or semantic value from the earlier construction.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
我仅有一本中文书。
他仅学习了三天。
这仅仅是个开始。
我不仅喜欢猫，也喜欢狗。
这项服务仅限会员使用。
他仅凭一人之力完成了任务。
这不仅是一个问题，更是一个挑战。
在如此短的时间内，我们仅能完成初步计划。