母

Originally depicts a woman with breasts, symbolizing a mother nursing her child.

The modern form derives from 女 (woman) with two dots inside, representing breasts.

In early script, clearly showed the nurturing figure of a mother.

The character was also borrowed (假借) to mean “not, do not” (a prohibitive sense), which later split off into the separate character 毋.

Semantic range:

- biological: mother, female parent;

- extended: female (in contrast with male 父, “father”);

- abstract: source, origin, root of something.

모친 (母親) – mother, one’s parent

부모 (父母) – parents

모성 (母性) – motherhood

국모 (國母) – mother of the nation

자모 (字母) – alphabet, “mother of letters”

모음 (母音) – vowel (linguistic “mother sound”)

The “prohibition” sense survives separately in 毋, no longer part of 母’s core meaning.

In many cultures, “mother” characters carry symbolic weight for origin or nurturing root, beyond literal motherhood.