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Pinyin | wǔ (third tone) |
| English | noon; midday | |
| The sound is a bit like 'woo' but with a drop in tone in the middle. | ||
Character derived from that for 'pestle' perhaps with a lunch association but more likely to be similar in sound.
It has the same sound as wu meaning 'five' even in tone so you can only distinguish them by context. Chinese has had a decimal system for many centuries and it is tempting to think that it is no coincidence that the homophone for '5' and 'noon' indicate a day split into ten units.
| shàng | wǔ | |
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| ascend | noon | = morning |