挥毫洒墨
huī​háo​sǎ​mò

wield brush

挥 huī wave, brandish Simplified

Simplified form of 揮. Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 军 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

军
军 Sound component
jūn army
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

毫 háo fine hair

Phonosemantic compound. 毛 represents the meaning and 高 represents the sound.

Components

高
高 SoundRemnant component
gāo high
毛
毛 Meaning component
máo, mao hair

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthaw[g]ˤaw fine animal hair

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

洒 sǎ sprinkle Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 西 represents the sound. Simplified form of 灑.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

西
西 Sound component
xi, xī west

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsrɛXCə.s<r>ərʔsprinkle
sejX[s]ˤərʔwash
Zhengzhangsraːls
sɯːlʔ

說文解字

滌也。从水西聲。古文爲灑埽字。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

墨 mò ink

Original meaning: tattoo the face for a crime committed

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 黑 represents the sound. Originally written as 黑, which depicts a person whose face has been tattooed.

Components

黑
黑 SoundIconic component
hēi black

Depicts a person whose face has been tattooed.

Change in sound
土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmokC.mˤək ink

說文解字

《說文》：“墨，書墨也。从土，从黑，黑亦聲。”

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)

揮 huī wave, brandish Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 軍 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

軍
軍 Sound component
jūn army
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Western Zhou 1045-771 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxjw+jqʷʰər wave, brandish

說文解字

《說文》：“揮，奮也。从手，軍聲。”

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)

灑 sprinkle Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 麗 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

麗
麗 Sound component
lì beautiful

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsrɛXCə.s<r>ərʔ (MC srj- > sr-)sprinkle
srɛHCə.s<r>ərʔ-s (MC srj- > sr-)sprinkle
srjeHCə.s<r>ərʔ-ssprinkle
srjeXCə.s<r>ərʔsprinkle (v.)
Zhengzhangsreːlʔ
sreːlʔ
srelʔ
srels
Unicodeshrǎ
shri
shriɛ̀
shriɛ̌
shrɛ̌i

說文解字

汛也。从水麗聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)