How to Write 坶 (mǔ) — Meaning “soil; land”

Picture your mother (母) standing firmly on a patch of soil (土). Since 母 sounds like 'mǔ' and is used in the word 'mother', you can remember that 坶 is like 'mother earth'—the soil under your mother's feet.

Write the left radical 土 first (stroke order: horizontal, vertical, horizontal). Then write 母: start with the left vertical, then the horizontal with two dots (one above, one below), then the right vertical, and finally the central vertical line. A common mistake is making 母 too wide or forgetting the two inner dots.

坶 has the right side 母, while 在 has 才 (cái) on the right, and 圩 has 于 (yú). Visually, 坶 means 'soil' or is used in transliterations, 在 means 'at' or 'exist', and 圩 means 'embankment' or 'market'. Pay attention to the different right components.

坶 is very rare and not in the HSK vocabulary. It appears mostly in transliterations of foreign names, such as 坶妈 (mǔ mā, 'mother' in dialect) or 坶欧 (mǔ ōu, a personal name). You will not encounter it in everyday conversation or writing, so it is mainly for specialized or historical interest.

Common words containing 坶 include: 坶妈 (mǔ mā) — mother (transliteration/dialect); 坶地 (mǔ dì) — land; soil; 坶欧 (mǔ ōu) — Mo-o (transliteration).