Sinograph Addenda · Signs

之of · zhī · of; him, her, it — the classical linker and object

of

Where it comes from

The most-written character in classical Chinese — rank one of the whole corpus. The early form draws a foot setting out over a line; the grammar word zhī (“of”; “him, her, it”) borrowed the picture for its sound and kept it forever. Taught in the busiest-words chapter.

How to remember it

Three quick strokes, everywhere. X 之of · zhī · of; him, her, it — the classical linker and object Y is “the Y of X” — read 之of · zhī · of; him, her, it — the classical linker and object as the hinge of the phrase and half of classical syntax opens.

In the wild