<p>The old character shows hands pulling a head from a woman, which I presume means helping her to have a baby rather than pulling her head off! The middle part is the head and the hands. The fact that the hands only have 3 fingers is proof positive that aliens kidnapped Chinese babies a long time ago. Everyone knows only aliens have 3 fingers!
This from zdic.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.zdic.net/z/24/zy/8981.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.zdic.net/z/24/zy/8981.htm</a></p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/9nkVU.gif" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/9nkVU.gif" alt="old yao character"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-14T03:32:57.163Z
2016-09-14T03:32:57.163Z
Gangosa
<p>The entire character 嫑 seems to be pronounced or translated to "bao". What does this character 嫑 mean?</p>

<p>Specifically, I'd really like to know the meaning of the middle symbol on its own as well. The top one is bù 不 (no, not, negative) and the bottom is nǚ 女 (female, woman).</p>

<p>The closest thing I could find was xī 西 (west, western). Without the "bu" on top we get 要 yào (to want, etc.).</p>

<p>I'm quite new to Mandarin Chinese, but am quite familiar with the basics so far. (I've complete about half-way through some popular apps.) I am very interested in how the symbols combine into new characters and change meanings.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-13T14:33:43.647Z
嫑 is combo of 不 and 要 to mean exactly that 不要 - 不 don't 要 want; pronunciation is biao2
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-13T14:42:00.037Z
Thanks! @user3306356 Any thoughts on the middle symbol? Is it a version of the character for west, xī?
jdods
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-13T14:42:56.250Z
it absolutely is 西
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-13T20:48:17.050Z
Thanks! I found this discussion which was enlightening (link below). I guess the character in question is not OK in all dialects. That's not something I was aware of. http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/嫑-摽-biao4.3031602/
jdods
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-14T13:58:11.180Z
As user3306356 said, it's a combo of 不要. There are some other examples following that logic as in 甭 béng (不用 - need not).
Enrico Brasil
<mandarin><character-identification><radicals>
Meaning of 嫑 and its middle radical
# Meaning of 嫑 and its middle radical

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-09-13)

The entire character 嫑 seems to be pronounced or translated to "bao". What does this character 嫑 mean?

Specifically, I'd really like to know the meaning of the middle symbol on its own as well. The top one is bù 不 (no, not, negative) and the bottom is nǚ 女 (female, woman).

The closest thing I could find was xī 西 (west, western). Without the "bu" on top we get 要 yào (to want, etc.).

I'm quite new to Mandarin Chinese, but am quite familiar with the basics so far. (I've complete about half-way through some popular apps.) I am very interested in how the symbols combine into new characters and change meanings.

**Tags:** mandarin, character-identification, radicals

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 嫑 is combo of 不 and 要 to mean exactly that 不要 - 不 don't 要 want; pronunciation is biao2  
> **username_0**: Thanks! @user3306356 Any thoughts on the middle symbol? Is it a version of the character for west, xī?  
> **username_1**: it absolutely is 西  
> **username_0**: Thanks! I found this discussion which was enlightening (link below). I guess the character in question is not OK in all dialects. That's not something I was aware of. http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/嫑-摽-biao4.3031602/  
> **username_2**: As user3306356 said, it's a combo of 不要. There are some other examples following that logic as in 甭 béng (不用 - need not).  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2016-09-14. Score: 2

The old character shows hands pulling a head from a woman, which I presume means helping her to have a baby rather than pulling her head off! The middle part is the head and the hands. The fact that the hands only have 3 fingers is proof positive that aliens kidnapped Chinese babies a long time ago. Everyone knows only aliens have 3 fingers!
This from zdic.

<http://www.zdic.net/z/24/zy/8981.htm>

[![old yao character](https://i.sstatic.net/9nkVU.gif)](https://i.sstatic.net/9nkVU.gif)


---

