Mandarin II Berkeley Extension: Class 1, Sept. 6, 2011, Jia, Bao Cai, instructor. Notes and irritating commentary by Jennifer Ball.

Putonghua Uncensored ©February 2, 2012: avail. at www.originofalphabet.com rev. 4 February 2012 8:26 AM Page 1

丫

Woman outline from www.essex.ac.uk

丫= “slave girl” in Chinese

= “woman” in Sumerian

This similarity should make you think about the alphabet’s letter Y. It starts words like “young” and “youth,” who are the most defenseless. In Greek “ymen” means “membrane” (think “hymen”); “yper” means “above” and “ypo” means “below.” Who do you suppose was above or below?