About
勿 is a negative imperative particle in Chinese, meaning "do not" or "must not". Although it now appears as a single integrated unit, ancient oracle bone and bronze inscriptions show that it was originally a pictograph of a knife (刀) cutting, with droplets of blood falling from the blade, a vivid depiction of cutting a throat. This original meaning is now written with the character 刎. The current prohibitive sense arose through phonetic borrowing: the spoken word for negation sounded similar to the word for this cutting action, so the character was adopted to write it. Since abstract prohibitions are difficult to illustrate, the loaned usage became permanent, and the original graphic meaning of a bleeding knife and throat-cutting completely vanished from common usage.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
请勿大声喧哗。
请勿在此处停车。
请勿触摸展品。
请勿打扰，他正在休息。
过期药品请勿服用。
室内场所请勿吸烟。
此事至关重要，切勿掉以轻心。
前行道路施工，车辆请勿通行。
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