汝

rǔ

女 + 氵

Definitions

rǔ thou

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 女 represents the sound.

Semantic: 氵 Phonetic: 女

About

汝 is a phono-semantic compound: the left side 氵 (water) provides the meaning, and the right side 女 provides the sound. The character originally referred to the Ru River, a waterway in central China. It was later adopted as a phonetic loan to represent the second-person pronoun 'you' (or 'thou') in classical literature. This borrowed function overshadowed its geographical meaning, and 汝 became one of the most common pronouns in ancient texts.

Etymology Hide

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Seal Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

汝州是个历史名城。

Rǔzhōu shì gè lìshǐ míngchéng.

Ruzhou is a famous historical city.

你的名字里有个汝字。

Nǐ de míngzì lǐ yǒu gè rǔ zì.

There is a character 'Ru' in your name.

古人常以汝称呼对方。

Gǔrén cháng yǐ rǔ chēnghū duìfāng.

Ancient people often used 'Ru' to address each other.

此信是写给我儿汝成的。

Cǐ xìn shì xiě gěi wǒ ér Rǔchéng de.

This letter is written for my son, Rucheng.

汝若不努力，必将后悔。

Rǔ ruò bù nǔlì, bì jiāng hòuhuǐ.

If you do not work hard, you will certainly regret it.

汝之观点，吾不敢苟同。

Rǔ zhī guāndiǎn, wú bù gǎn gǒutóng.

I dare not agree with your point of view.

父亲对儿子说：“汝当自强。”

Fùqīn duì érzi shuō: “Rǔ dāng zìqiáng.”

The father said to his son, "You should strive to strengthen yourself."

众人皆醉，唯汝独醒，是何感受？

Zhòngrén jiē zuì, wéi rǔ dú xǐng, shì hé gǎnshòu?

Everyone else is drunk, only you are sober; how does that feel?

Related Characters

Component: 女

Component: 氵

汝