Additional information about 牡
說文解字: 【牡】，畜父也。从牛、土聲。 【莫厚切】
- Criteria
- MALE
1. The current general term is nán 男 (opp. nǚ 女 "female) or, more administratively and technically nán zǐ 男子 (opp. nǚ zǐ 女子 "female").
2. Mǔ 牡 refers to the male of birds and beasts in purely biological terms.
3. Xióng 雄 denotes maleness, but often connotes virility, strength and domination as well.
4. Zhàng fū 丈夫 (opp. fù rén 婦人 "woman") is a current, probably colloquial, word for an adult male.
5. Fū 夫 is a dignified term for an adult male.
- OVINE
1. Yáng 羊 is the general word referring indifferently to what in English is a sheep, a goat, or a ram.
2. Gāo 羔 refers to a young goat or sheep.
3. Zāng 牂 refers to a female goat or sheep.
4. Yú 妤羭 is a colloquialism for a goat or a sheep.
5. Jié 羯 castrated sheep.
NB: According to ERYA fán 羳 refers to a goat/sheep with yellow belly, and goats/sheep with curved horns are called guǐ 觤 (ERYA). Fèn 羒 refers to a male goat or sheep.
ERYA （三）羊屬。
19·28 羊，牡羒，牝牂。
19·29 夏羊，牡羭，牝羖。
19·30 角不齊，觤；角三觠，羷。
19·31 羳羊，黃腹。
19·32 未成羊，羜。
- FEMALE
1. The current general word for a female of any species is cí 雌 (ant. xióng 雄 "male").
2. Nu# 女 (ant. nán 男 "male") refers specifically to human females.
3. Pìn 牝 (ant. mǔ 牡 "male") refers to specifically to females of animals.
4. Zì 牸 refers to females of buffalo, but sometimes also of tiger, rhinoceros, or horse.
5. Mǔ 母 (ant. gōng 公 "male") refers to adult females of some species, including spirits. NB incidentally: Mǔ jī 母雞 is current, while mǔ niǎo 母鳥 does not seem to be found.
6. Kūn 坤 (ant. qián 乾 "metaphysically: male") is a metaphysical way of characterising things as belonging to the female realm. (NB incidentally and irrelevantly as a modern Chinese reflex kūn biǎo 坤錶 "women's watch".)