Second_set_of_Jiagu

Second Set of the Earliest Chinese Characters

zhi critter

The modern form of this character is written as follow:

豸

zhì This is a picture for a general category of animals that humans have never tamed or that at least can survive in the wild. Its meaning is very broad in about the same way that we can use "cat" to refer to lions, tigers, leopards, cougars, jaguars, and even animals like civet cats. In Chinese class I sometimes say it means "critter," because we generally use that term for animals that we can't identify clearly but that we suspect may be hunting our chickens or other livestock.

The pronunciation of the Chinese word is like the first syllable in "gerbil." The word "zhì" has a falling intonation as though you were angry.

Civet cat

For source pictures and permissions information, go here and here. This is an Asian Palm Civet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_palm_civet.

The modern form of this character is rotated 90° and is written as follow:
目

mù This word is pronounced about like "moo" and it has a falling intonation, just like "zhì."

horse eye

For source pictures and permissions information, go here.

The modern form of this character is written as follow:

手

shǒu This word is pronounced about like "show." It has a dipping intonation.
human hand

The modern form of this character is written as follow:

口

kǒu This word is pronounced about like the first syllable of the former Secretary General of the United Nation, Kofi Annan, but it is said with a dipping intonation.

human mouth

For source pictures and permissions information, go here.

Notice the big eye that represents the whole head of this mammal. The modern form of this character contains 目, which represents the eye, the whole thing is rotated 90°, and it is written as follow:

馬

mǎ This word is pronounced about like the English word "ma." It is said with a dipping intonation.