Sinograph Addenda · Signs

如like · rú · to be like, as; if; to go to

like

Where it comes from

女woman · nǚ · woman beside a mouth 口mouth · kǒu · mouth; an opening — the stated account hears 女woman · nǚ · woman’s Old Chinese sound carrying the word. The uses fan out from likeness: X 如like · rú · to be like, as; if; to go to Y “X is like Y”; 不not · bù · not — the plain negation如like · rú · to be like, as; if; to go to “falls short of”; 如like · rú · to be like, as; if; to go to…何what · hé · what? how? why? “what is to be done with…”; and at a clause’s head, “if”. Taught in the like-and-alike chapter.

How to remember it

Say it like she said it — the mouth repeating what it heard.

In the wild