嘦

if only / so long as / (contraction of 只 and 要)

嘦 character breakdown

嘦
- 只
  - 八
    - 丿
    - ㇏
  - 口
- 要
  - 女
  - 覀
    - 一
    - 罒

only / merely / just / but

只 = 八 + 口 : Mnemonic symbol: this character looks like something (a head?) on two legs. I'll just represent it by a cuttlefish (只). James II of England (zh) has been in the space station (Ø3) as the only (只) one for too long and went mad. He thinks he's holding a mandarin (口), but he's just about to bite into merely (只) an eight ball (八). On the top of his head is a cuttlefish (只) he mistook for a hat.

只

祇

zhǐ = zh + Ø3

variant of 只[zhi3]

只

秖

zhi̅ = zh + Ø1

grain that has begun to ripen

只

衹

zhǐ = zh + Ø3

variant of 只[zhi3]

要

ya̅o = y + ao1

to demand / to request / to coerce

要

yào = y + ao4

important / vital / to want / to ask for / will / going to (as future auxiliary) / may / must / (used in a comparison) must be / probably / if

要 = 女 + 覀 : Bessie Coleman shows Maud Younger how to use a knuckle duster in the aorta's bathroom. She says it's very important and that Maud will have to get one herself.

只

隻

zhi̅ = zh + Ø1

classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc

要

ya̅o = y + ao1

(bound form) to demand; to coerce

要

yào = y + ao4

to want; to need; to ask for / will; shall; about to / need to; should / if (same as 要是[yao4 shi5]) / (bound form) important