āi

sad; pity

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components
衣 sound component

  Sound component

  

clothes

口 meaning component

  Meaning component

kǒu

  

mouth

mouth

Evolution

哀 Bronze script Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Bronze script

Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)
哀 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
哀 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
哀 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

 

āi

sad, mournful, pitiful; pity; sorrow; grief; to grieve for; to pity; to lament; to condole

 

Ai (c. 2000 BC), sixth of legendary Flame Emperors 炎帝[Yán​dì] descended from Shennong 神農|神农[Shén​nóng] Farmer God, also known as Li |[Lí]

Most common words with 哀
Freq.
Word
Meaning

悲哀

grieved

哀悼

mourning

sorrow

哀伤

grief

哀求

to entreat

Component uses

Sound component in 1 character (0 verified)