「告」字的古文字形構，自來異說紛陳，舊多从許慎釋為从牛从口，但上溯殷墟卜辭，「告」字口形上部所从與牛形較然分明，故學者或另闢蹊徑解釋，可惜諸說形義均難適洽。近年，張玉金先生提出：「告」字本義為告訴、報告，乃從「舌」字分化，從形義關係看來，相較舊說，此說較為合理，不過細核其形構分析，仍有可商之處，故筆者試就所見，提出一點假設：對照殷墟卜辭的「壴（鼓）」類字形，「告」字上部所从與「壴（鼓）」字類字形呈平行變化的現象，筆者認為「告」字可分析為从口、从壴省，但與另一個从口、从壴的「喜」字有別。至於「告」字从壴省的部分，則有幾種可能，或作為「告」字聲符，或作為表義偏旁，也可能聲符兼義。就目前所見證據，本文傾向將「告」字析為从口、壴省聲，也不排除聲符兼義的可能。

On the "gao (告)" character of the ancient Chinese characters structure, there are many different versions. Early scholars have followed Xu Shen insights. Reference Oracle shape, previous statement is wrong. Recently, a scholar Mr. Zhang Yujin raised a new argument, but there are still some problems. I propose a hypothesis, "gao (告)" word is likely to be composed of two parts, one is the "mouth (口)", the other is the "drum (壴/鼓)" word. However, the "gao (告)" with another word "喜" word is not related. I think, "gao (告)" the word is likely to be a "phonogram (形聲字)". It is a symbol meaning "mouth (口)" word, phonetic character is "drum (壴/鼓)" word, phonetic character has been omitted. However, this article does not rule out another possibility is that the phonetic component can express meaning.