口 mouth (口字旁 kǒuzìpáng)
【PINYIN】[kǒu]
【TRANSLATION】mouth; open end; entrance, gate
【FORMATION】象形，张开的嘴
【COINAGE】Pictograph, Open mouth
【造字理据】
《说文解字》:“人所以言食也。象形。”[按]象人的口之形狀，也代表一切“口儿”。
“口”字本義為人的口腔器官，即嘴，是一個象形字。在甲骨文中，“口”字的字形就像人的嘴巴，金文也是如此。而在小篆文中，字形变得有些长，在隶书和楷书中，又演变为方形。“口”字的本义一直沿用至今，它还可用作量词，如“一口井”。此外，現在人们将一个人的语言表达能力称为“口才”，如“演说家大都是口才极好的人”。
以口作义符的字有：可、叮、葉、古、叭、叴、叱、呈、呱、噓、器、嚥、嗑等。
以口作声符的字有：句、扣、叩、周。
【MOTIVATION】This is usually found on the left side; when it is at the bottom or in combination, as 合, 启 or 咸, the character is probably an original one; it is employed to indicate that the character is used phonetically, as 咖啡 for coffee, and many words under it in Kanghi's Dictionary are of this kind; voice, names, actions of the mouth, &c. are the general meanings; many are onomatopoetic.
The character for mouth was originally a pictograph of an open mouth; broadening into a smile; and eventually stiffening; and contracting to square: 口. 口 also means an opening. Wise old sayings always caution one about those with a big mouth.
The Component 口 often appears in the left part of a character and, less frequently, in the top or bottom part. 口 is one of the most common Component in Chinese, and the characters with 口 are usually related to the actions of the mouth.
【例字 Examples】
向[xiàng] toward, direction, trend
象形。从宀( mián)，从口。“宀”表示房屋，甲骨文中像屋墙，有窗户之形。本义：朝北开的窗户。
告[gào] tell, announce, inform; accuse
会意。甲骨文字形，上面的“牛”，牛触人，角著橫木，所以告人也。从口，从牛。本义：报告，上报。
古[gǔ] old, classic, ancient
会意。从十，从口。本义：古代。一般分为太古、上古、中古、近古。
可[kě] may, can, -able; possibly
会意。从口，从丂(供神之架)，表示在神前歌唱。“可”似为“歌”字的古文。①本义：唱②引申义：许可。
肙[yuān] a small worm; to twist; to surround; empty
“绢”的省略，表示丝品柔曼、细腻。另解：肙上半部分的“口”实为“甘”——>“日”——>“口”，表示肙的下半部分“月”（肉）味美。后借指美好事物、女子，如：涓、娟、绢等。
吃 喝 吸 叫 吹 唱 吵 哭 喊 啊 叶 兄 句 加 另 吐 名
