卢恩字母
lú'ēn​zì​mǔ

rune

卢 lú, lǘ, léi rice vessel Simplified

Original meaning: stove

Simplified form of 盧. Originally a pictograph of a stove, based on the original meaning "stove", now written as 爐. The 虍 and 皿 components were added later. In modern Mandarin this character is usually only used for its sound in foreign loan words.

Components

虍
虍 SoundSimplified component
hū tiger
Change in sound
◎
◎ IconicSimplified component
characterless component

Depicts a stove.

盧
皿 Deleted component
mǐn, mǐng dish

The traditional component 皿 was removed for simplification.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 9 verified)

颅鲈鸬胪泸舻轳栌垆

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

垆

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

恩 ēn kindness

Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 因 represents the sound.

Components

心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart
因
因 Sound component
yīn cause

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

嗯摁蒽

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'onʔˤə[n] kindness, favor

說文解字

《說文》：“恩，惠也。从心，因聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

字 zì, zi letter

Original meaning: raise up children

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 子 represents the sound. The 宀 (roof) component is based on the original meaning "raise up children". The meaning later shifted to "educate", "word", and "writing".

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof
Change in meaning
宀 hints at the original meaning of 字, "raise up children", which is no longer the most common meaning of 字 in modern Mandarin.
子
子 SoundMeaning component
zi, zǐ child
Change in meaning
子 hints at the original meaning of 字, "raise up children", which is no longer the most common meaning of 字 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

牸

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdziHmə-dzə(ʔ)-s breed, love (v.); character

說文解字

《說文》：“字，乳也。从子在宀下，子亦聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

母 mǔ mother

Pictograph of a woman kneeling, with two dots representing the two nipples that mothers use to feed their young.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

姆拇坶呣鉧

Iconic (2)

后每

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmuwXməʔ (? or *mˤoʔ) mother

說文解字

《說文》：“母，牧也。从女，象褱子形。一曰象乳子也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

盧 rice vessel Traditional

Original meaning: stove

Originally a pictograph of a stove, based on the original meaning "stove", now written as 爐. The 虍 and 皿 components were added later. In modern Mandarin this character is usually only used for its sound in foreign loan words.

Components

虍
虍 Sound component
hū tiger
Change in sound
◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a stove. Unrelated to 田.

皿
皿 Meaning component
mǐn, mǐng dish
Change in meaning
皿 hints at the original meaning of 盧, "stove", which is no longer the most common meaning of 盧 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 12 verified)

顱膚蘆驢臚鑪鸕瀘廬鱸爐轤

Remnant (1)

膚

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangb·raː
Unicodelo

說文解字

《說文》：“盧，飲器也。从皿，聲。，籀文盧。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)