About
The character 邬, in its traditional form 鄔, is a phono-semantic compound. Its phonetic component 乌 (or 烏) is positioned on the left, while the semantic radical 阝 (the city or settlement radical 邑) is on the right. Originating as a toponym for an ancient state or settlement in modern-day Shanxi, the radical clearly places it within geographic terms. Over time, it evolved to become used almost exclusively as a surname, derived from the inhabitants of that locality, a common pattern for place-name characters.
Etymology Hide
