於

Although traditionally classified under the 方 radical, this is purely graphic, not semantic.

於 originated as a variant form of 烏 (crow). It was created in the late Western Zhou period. The character originally depicted a crow, similar to 烏.

In early usage, 烏 functioned both as:

- a noun (“crow”)

- an exclamatory particle (“ah!”, “alas!”)

- a grammatical particle

Over time, the system was regularized:

烏 → fixed as the noun “crow”

於 → fixed as a grammatical particle

嗚 (烏 + 口) → inherited the exclamatory function

Thus, 於 lost all lexical meaning and became a pure function word.

Relationship with 于:

于 existed earlier (attested already in oracle bone inscriptions). Originally distinct in pronunciation and usage. After 於 emerged, their functions gradually merged.

By the late Spring and Autumn → Warring States period 于 and 於 were functionally interchangeable. 於 became dominant in usage.

Related forms:

于 — historically distinct, later merged in function

嗚 — inherited the exclamatory function

烏 — original pictograph (“crow”)

Script and graphic notes:

Early forms resembled 鳥-like crow shapes.

Unlike other 方-radical characters derived from 㫃, 於 is not related to flags.

Right-side 人 component:

Standard form: 人

Hong Kong standard: 𠂉

Final stroke direction varies by font:

Unicode reference: ↘

Some fonts / Korean court standard: ↗

扵 (U+6275) — vulgar/graphical variant