[[Characters]] #Characters \ #Natural-World \ #Animals # 羔 gāo young lamb, young animal ## Components [[羊 (yáng)]] [[羊 yáng]] [[灬 (huǒ)]] ## Meaning Today, the character 羔 (gāo) is rarely used in modern Mandarin Chinese. Its usage is mostly confined to classical or literary contexts, particularly in traditional literature or poetry. When encountered, it still retains its original meaning of "young lamb" or "young animal." However, in everyday language, more common terms are used to describe young animals, and the character 羔 is seldom employed in contemporary communication. ## History The character 羔 (gāo) is a compound ideograph. In its oracle bone script form, the upper part represents a sheep, while the lower part represents fire, symbolizing the act of roasting a lamb. The bronze script version closely resembles the oracle bone script. Over time, the strokes in the character became more simplified. In clerical script, it evolved into its current form, 羔. According to the "Shuōwén • Yángbù," 羔 means "young lamb," derived from the sheep radical, indicating the sound. The primary meaning of 羔 is a young lamb. For instance, in the "Chu Ci" poem "Zhao Hun," the term "炮羊" (pào yáng) refers to roasting a whole lamb, typically a young one. The character can also broadly refer to young animals or plants, such as "鹿羔" (lù gāo) for a young deer or "骆驼羔" (luòtuó gāo) for a young camel. ## Evolution ### Oracular Script ![[羔 gāo - ora.svg]] ### Bronze Script ![[羔 gāo - bronce.svg]] ### Seal Script ![[羔 gāo - sello.svg]] ### Clerical Script ? ### Regular Script ![[羔 gāo - reg.svg]]