A swaddled baby, as the labor is over

 

Pinyin	le ; liǎo
Meaning	le: used to mark completed action; used to express a change of state liǎo: to finish; to achieve
Radical	乙	繁體字	same

n/a

category: pictograph

structure: single

2stroke count

HSK 1

The forms of 了 (liǎo) “to finish” and 子 (zǐ) “son” are both based on a child. The horizontal stroke in 子 (zǐ) represents the open arms, while 了 (liǎo) without this stroke looks like a swaddled baby, which indicates the labor is over.

	without the horizontal stroke: 了 (liǎo) “to finish”
	with the horizontal stroke: 子 (zǐ) “son”

Used as a morpheme/word

In modern Chinese, 了 is not used as a word by itself. It is mainly used as a particle, pronounced (le), to mark an action as completed. It can also serve as a morpheme, pronounced (liǎo) or (le), that signifies “to finish.”

How to pronounce

le

(Le) sounds like “low” pronounced with unrounded lips.

liǎo

(Liǎo) sounds like “lee owl” spoken in one syllable but without the l at the end.