父 (fu6)

This week’s character is 父 (fu6), the formal term of address for “father” in Cantonese.

Together with the 母 (mou5) character, it forms the compound word 父母 (fu6 mou5), the formal term for “parents” in Cantonese.

It originally began as a pictograph of a hand holding an axe (probably because the axe was a common tool that men used to do work).

You can look up all of the different forms of the 父 (fu6) character throughout history at the Uncle Hanzi website.

Personally, I always see this character looking like a father carrying his child high upon his shoulders.

A belated Happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful dads out there!