莫

mostly supplies the sound mo/mu · Character component

mostly supplies the sound mo/mu, and in a few characters the sense of dusk or sun going down

The old graph showed the sun sinking down into thick grass or trees — a 日 sun surrounded above and below by clumps of vegetation — picturing sundown. In the modern form you can still see the grass 艹 on top and the 日 in the middle, while the bottom clump has flattened into a shape like 大. Because the character was taken over to write the negative word "do not," a second 日 was added below to make 暮 for the original "evening" sense; in most other characters 莫 is there for its sound, as in 摸, 模, 漠 and 馍.

莫 at a glance

Meaning

mostly supplies the sound mo/mu

Strokes

10

Characters

23

Role

Contributes sound

Characters with 莫 (20 of 23)

Frequently asked questions