About
The character "溺" structurally integrates the water radical with the component "弱", which provides phonetic guidance while concurrently implying a state of weakness, thus originally conveying the concept of drowning or submersion in water. Over centuries, its semantic scope broadened to include the act of urination, a shift probably arising from phonetic borrowing where the character was adopted for its sound to denote a separate yet fluid-related function, reflecting a common pattern in the development of Chinese characters. This duality of meaning has persisted, with the character's form remaining unchanged across traditional and simplified orthographies, illustrating how linguistic utility and contextual adaptation can shape the evolution of a character's applications over time.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
那个孩子溺水了。
她溺爱自己的儿子。
昨天有人溺水身亡。
由于洪水，溺水事故增多。
他被发现溺死在湖中。
请不要在深水区玩耍，以免溺水。
过度溺爱孩子会阻碍他们的成长。
尽管政府加强了安全教育，但夏季溺水事件仍时有发生。