How to Write 牸 (zì) — Meaning “Female domestic animal”

Picture a female cow (牸) that is so clever she can write Chinese characters. The left side 牛 is the cow, and the right side 字 means "character" – so imagine a cow holding a pen and writing. This visual links the animal meaning to the phonetic component 字.

When writing 牸, the left radical 牛 should be narrow and compact, with strokes in this order: 撇, 横, 横, 竖. The right part 字 begins with two dots (left dot then right dot) followed by a horizontal stroke then a vertical hook and a final horizontal. A common mistake is making the two dots too far apart or writing them as a single line.

牸 (zì) means "female domestic animal" and uses 字 as phonetic; 牦 (máo) means "yak" and uses 毛 (hair) to show the animal's hairy coat; 牧 (mù) means "to herd" and uses 攵 (to strike) to indicate action. Visually, 牸 has 字 on the right, 牦 has 毛, and 牧 has 攵. Their meanings are also distinct: one specifies gender, one is a specific animal, and one is a verb.

牸 is rarely used in everyday modern Chinese; it appears mainly in classical texts, agricultural manuals, or very formal contexts to specify female livestock, like 牸牛 (a cow that has calved). In daily speech, people use simpler terms such as 母牛 (mǔniú) for cow or 母马 (mǔmǎ) for mare. The character is considered archaic and is not part of the HSK vocabulary.

Common words containing 牸 include: 牸牛 (zì niú) — Cow (female ox); 牸马 (zì mǎ) — Mare (female horse); 牸畜 (zì chù) — Female livestock.