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首字母

Mandarin · pinyin shǒu zì mǔ

initial letter of a word

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Characters in this entry

首: shǒu · head; first; leader, chief; a poem; Kangxi radical 185
字: zì · letter, character, word
母: mǔ · mother; female elders; female

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–4–3 · shou3 zi4 mu3

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

initial letter; initial

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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