于 yú — at, to, from · English

于

yú

at, to, from

At a glance · 于

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Evolution of the glyph

Five stages, from a sketch of the real object to regular script — tap a stage, drag the timeline, or play the animation.

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seen
Oracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCE
Seal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCE
Clerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CE
Regular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seenOracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCESeal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCEClerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CERegular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

⚠ Some ancient forms are not attested：oracle bone form、seal script form。No excavated oracle bone / seal artifact is attested for this character yet; we leave it blank rather than fabricate.

甲骨文、金文象气之舒出（或说象竽管），本为「吁」初文。后假借为介词、连词。隶楷作「于」。

What the sketch shows

Origins & notes

「于」本为叹词（吁），假借为介词，表处所、对象。

Structure

象形（或会意）本作叹词，后假借为虚词介词。

At a glance

Pinyinyú

Radical二

Strokes3

UnicodeU+4E8E

Character type假借

Theme虚词

Six languages, one character

Each page offers hreflang versions; switching language keeps the glyphs and meanings aligned.

English at, to, from A preposition (in, at, to, from).

Français à, de, en Une préposition (à, de, en).

Español en, a, de Una preposición (en, a, de).

العربية في، إلى، من حرف جر (في/إلى/من).

Русский в, к, из Предлог (в, к, из, по отношению к).

Common words

于yúat/in
由于yóu yúbecause

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