TSUMUGU · TOCFL 4 (est.) · 字
乎
ㄏㄨ · hū
particle — marks a question or exclamation; (classical) at, in
字源 FORM — what the parts do
乎形rendered bare — the breath rising off the tongue, no object to picture
A breath let out at the end of a sentence, the tone curling up — that rising air is the whole graph. It carries no thing you can point at, only the lift of the voice asking or marveling. Lent its sound to 呼, the open-mouthed call.
意 · Meanings
(本義)語氣詞— sentence-final particle (question, exclamation)常用
→於、在— (classical) at, in — 出乎意料
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension