<p>The first question, <strong>what does 字母 mean in Chinese?</strong></p>
<p>Let’s look at two references:</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiandai_Hanyu_Guifan_Cidian" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian</em></a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>音韵学上指声母的代表字, 简称“母”。如“帮”代表声母“b”。</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>ABC</em></p>
<blockquote>
<p>a Ch. character representing the initial consonant of a syllable (e.g., míng 'bright' representing m) See fǎnqiè</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Here, ABC gives us a bit of a hint referring to fanqie.</p>
<p><strong>What’s the connection to alphabets and other writing systems?</strong></p>
<p><em>Guifan</em></p>
<blockquote>
<p>拼音文字或注音符号的最小书写单位<br />
拉丁字母 | 注音字母。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Now, understanding the <em>fanqie</em> connection mentioned above it is easy to see how the idea was extended from just the single initial consonant to a letter or a grapheme.</p>
<p><strong>Why these translations?</strong></p>
<p>An overarching theme in translation is equivalence. When translating something from one language to another the goal is to maintain the meaning while striving for optimal readability. Similar concepts for these words already existed in English. Inventing new claques that are not readably understandable would certainly be redundant in comparison.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-27T00:36:21.577Z
It seems to accidentally match the concepts of 母集 and 子集 in the modern set theory of mathematics. A 字母 is a 字 that represents a collection of 字(s) that have the same initial consonant 声母 of a syllable. I ask the question because I do not have the references. Thank you a lot.
PdotWang
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-27T00:08:31.267Z
2024-05-17T10:19:37.497Z
2024-05-17T10:19:37.497Z
Mou某
<p>Personally I think alphabet characters became character-mother is because:</p>
<ul>
<li>Chinese people see mothers as the base of our lives, in a traditional way.</li>
<li>Alphabet characters, are also the base of all English words, as the essential parts of them.</li>
<li>字 in Chinese can mean 字詞, which means &quot;word&quot;, so basically the word 字母 means &quot;the mother of words&quot;, that is &quot;the base of words&quot;, or &quot;the creator of words&quot;</li>
</ul>
<p>And btw, there isn't a concept of 字母 in Chinese originally. Only after Latin characters came in did we have the word.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-29T05:32:06.357Z
I think it's simply for the convenient of communication with people who don't have knowledge of Chinese characters, especially foreigners who familiar to the Latin alphabet.
thinwa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-30T15:05:48.747Z
2023-08-30T15:05:48.747Z
NullVoid
<p>Mother of human makes new human. 字母 makes new 字.</p>
<p>字 has meaning while character (as in Latin) has no meaning. Word is what has meaning like 字. Characters make words.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-09-24T06:38:22.880Z
2023-09-24T06:38:22.880Z
Dudu
<p>Similar to many Chinese terms, 字母 should be understood as one and not as a concatenation of two Chinese characters. Thus, it doesn't mean &quot;character-mother.&quot;</p>
<p>AFAIK, phonographic languages don't have characters, only words. So the term 字母 means building blocks of words. More specifically, letters.</p>
<p>An alphabet is the set of all the letters in a phonographic language, so it's very specific.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-09-24T07:22:29.567Z
2023-09-24T07:22:29.567Z
fat penguin
<p>The word &quot;字母&quot; might have been first used by SHOU WEN of the TANG dynasty. Why is it called &quot;character-mother&quot;? And now people translate &quot;Alphabet letters&quot; as &quot;字母&quot; in Chinese. Is there any reason that &quot;Alphabet letters&quot; means &quot;character-mother&quot;?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-30T21:21:36.540Z
Quote: "「字母」的「母」是对梵语 मातृका mātṛkā 的意译" from this Chinese answer:
https://www.zhihu.com/question/49474716/answer/671460221
Shaw
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-30T23:51:21.267Z
@Shaw Thanks. I think your comment provides the best answer. I have read that link. (1) Chinese learned from Sanskrit. (2) Sanskrit uses "mother" to describe the words that are the same in parts of their sounds maybe because similar kids belong to the same mother.
PdotWang
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-31T02:24:17.987Z
"字母" is not called "character-mother".
Tom
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-17T11:19:32.093Z
Yes, "the mother of all battles", has nothing to do with "mothers" It simply means something of "The best or greatest or the most significant of a type or category"
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-17T13:59:58.837Z
Can you provide examples of uses of the word "字母"?
r13
<translation><pinyin>
What "字母" mean in Chinese (not Alphabet in English)? Why is it called "character-mother"?
# What "字母" mean in Chinese (not Alphabet in English)? Why is it called "character-mother"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-08-26)

The word "字母" might have been first used by SHOU WEN of the TANG dynasty. Why is it called "character-mother"? And now people translate "Alphabet letters" as "字母" in Chinese. Is there any reason that "Alphabet letters" means "character-mother"?

**Tags:** translation, pinyin

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Quote: "「字母」的「母」是对梵语 मातृका mātṛkā 的意译" from this Chinese answer: https://www.zhihu.com/question/49474716/answer/671460221  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Thanks. I think your comment provides the best answer. I have read that link. (1) Chinese learned from Sanskrit. (2) Sanskrit uses "mother" to describe the words that are the same in parts of their sounds maybe because similar kids belong to the same mother.  
> **username_2**: "字母" is not called "character-mother".  
> **username_3**: Yes, "the mother of all battles", has nothing to do with "mothers" It simply means something of "The best or greatest or the most significant of a type or category"  
> **username_4**: Can you provide examples of uses of the word "字母"?  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2023-08-27. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

The first question, **what does 字母 mean in Chinese?**

Let’s look at two references:

[*Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiandai_Hanyu_Guifan_Cidian)

> 音韵学上指声母的代表字, 简称“母”。如“帮”代表声母“b”。

*ABC*

> a Ch. character representing the initial consonant of a syllable (e.g., míng 'bright' representing m) See fǎnqiè

Here, ABC gives us a bit of a hint referring to fanqie.

**What’s the connection to alphabets and other writing systems?**

*Guifan*

> 拼音文字或注音符号的最小书写单位  
> 拉丁字母 | 注音字母。

Now, understanding the *fanqie* connection mentioned above it is easy to see how the idea was extended from just the single initial consonant to a letter or a grapheme.

**Why these translations?**

An overarching theme in translation is equivalence. When translating something from one language to another the goal is to maintain the meaning while striving for optimal readability. Similar concepts for these words already existed in English. Inventing new claques that are not readably understandable would certainly be redundant in comparison.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: It seems to accidentally match the concepts of 母集 and 子集 in the modern set theory of mathematics. A 字母 is a 字 that represents a collection of 字(s) that have the same initial consonant 声母 of a syllable. I ask the question because I do not have the references. Thank you a lot.  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2023-08-30. Score: 2

Personally I think alphabet characters became character-mother is because:

* Chinese people see mothers as the base of our lives, in a traditional way.
* Alphabet characters, are also the base of all English words, as the essential parts of them.
* 字 in Chinese can mean 字詞, which means "word", so basically the word 字母 means "the mother of words", that is "the base of words", or "the creator of words"

And btw, there isn't a concept of 字母 in Chinese originally. Only after Latin characters came in did we have the word.

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: I think it's simply for the convenient of communication with people who don't have knowledge of Chinese characters, especially foreigners who familiar to the Latin alphabet.  

---

### Answer by username_8 on 2023-09-24. Score: 1

Mother of human makes new human. 字母 makes new 字.

字 has meaning while character (as in Latin) has no meaning. Word is what has meaning like 字. Characters make words.


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### Answer by username_9 on 2023-09-24. Score: 0

Similar to many Chinese terms, 字母 should be understood as one and not as a concatenation of two Chinese characters. Thus, it doesn't mean "character-mother."

AFAIK, phonographic languages don't have characters, only words. So the term 字母 means building blocks of words. More specifically, letters.

An alphabet is the set of all the letters in a phonographic language, so it's very specific.


---

