How to Write 佝 (gōu) — Meaning “rickets (related to)”

Imagine a person (亻) whose back is bent like a hook (句) — the 'hook' shape reminds you of the hunched posture. Also, the pinyin 'gōu' sounds like 'go', so picture a person who 'goes' around with a curved spine. This visual and sound link can help you recall both the character and its meaning.

The radical 亻 should be narrow and sit slightly to the left, while the right part 句 must be balanced and not too wide. A common mistake is making the 口 (mouth) inside 句 too large or writing the strokes of 句 too loosely, which ruins the proportion. The whole character should look compact, with the hook (勹) curving neatly around the 口.

佝 (gōu) has the component 句, which gives the meaning of curvature, so it describes a hunched or rickety person. 仔 (zǐ or zǎi) has 子 (child) and means 'young' or 'son', while 仕 (shì) has 士 (scholar) and means 'official'. Visually, the right parts differ: 句 vs. 子 vs. 士, so focus on the right side to tell them apart.

佝 is almost always found in the words 佝偻 (gōu lóu, meaning 'hunchbacked') and 佝偻病 (gōu lóu bìng, the medical term for rickets). It is not used in everyday conversation and appears mainly in medical or descriptive writing about posture or bone disease. Culturally, 佝偻病 was more common in the past due to malnutrition, but the character now mostly appears in formal texts.

Common words containing 佝 include: 佝偻 (gōu lóu) — hunchbacked; rickets; 佝偻病 (gōu lóu bìng) — rickets; 佝偻着 (gōu lóu zhe) — stooping; hunching.