Mosquito larvae, 孑孓, wriggle in the stagnant water.
Tips
history
孓 never stands alone; it occurs only in 孑孓, the wriggling larva of a mosquito. It is a graphic variant of the child graph 子 with the right arm bent, and is indexed under the child radical 子. It pairs with its mirror partner 孑.
register
Bound — found only in 孑孓, not as a free word.
Components
pictograph
孓jué
mosquito larva; bent-arm child graph
A single three-stroke unit: the child graph 子 drawn with the right arm crooked, suggesting a wriggling grub. Indexed under Kangxi radical 子. Mirror form of 孑; not decomposable.
Filed under radical 子 (zǐ, #39) by convention. 子 is not a separate component in 孓, so no strokes are highlighted.
