兄
부수: 儿
획수: 5획
兄 has the meanings ‘elder brother’ and ‘senior males’.
兄 = 口 + 儿
X = semantic + semantic
• 口 depicts a mouth and this represents ‘speaking’.
• 儿 depicts a side view of a person and means ‘person’.
口 likely represents ‘using big words’ or ‘speaking in a big voice’. Think of how elder brothers can advise and represent younger siblings.
Evolution:
兄 = ’older brother’ ➔ ’senior males’
Mnemonic
My brother 兄 has a big head 口 and talks down to everyone 儿.
Vocab
| 兄 | 형 | elder brother/friend |
| 맏兄 | 맏형 | the eldest brother |
| 兄弟 | 형제 | brothers; siblings; brethren |
| 兄夫 | 형부 | a woman’s elder sister’s husband |
| 妹兄 | 매형 | a woman’s brother-in-law |
| 兄嫂 | 형수 | a man’s elder brother’s wife |
Other resources
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Bibliography
— Grant, B.K. (1982). A Guide To Korean Characters: Reading and Writing Hangul and Hanja, [s.v. 125]. Seoul: Hollym.
— Henshall, K.G. (1998). A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters, [s.v. 267]. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing.
— Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters, [s.v. 兄, 口, 儿].
— Seely, C., Henshall, K.G., & Fan, J. (2016). The Complete Guide to Japanese Kanji: Remembering and Understanding the 2,136 Standard Japanese Characters, [s.v. 114]. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing.