空间局
kōng​jiān​jú

space agency

空 kōng, kòng empty

Phonosemantic compound. 穴 represents the meaning and 工 represents the sound.

Components

穴
穴 Meaning component
xué, jué cave
工
工 Sound component
gōng work

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 6 verified)

控腔崆倥箜焢

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhuwngkʰˤoŋ hollow, empty; hole
khuwngXkʰˤoŋʔ hollow, empty; hole

說文解字

《說文》：“空，竅也。从穴，工聲。”

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)

间 jiān, jian, jiàn space Simplified

Simplified form of 間. Depicts sunlight (日) shining through the gap in a door (門).

Components

门
门 Iconic component
mén, men door
日
日 Iconic component
rì sun

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

简涧锏裥

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

涧

Sources

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

局 jú bureau

Original meaning: bent, curved

Phonosemantic compound. 尸 represents the meaning and 句 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bent, curved". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

尸
尸 Meaning component
shī sitting person

Depicts a person bending over.

Change in meaning
尸 hints at the original meaning of 局, "bent, curved", which is no longer the most common meaning of 局 in modern Mandarin.
句
句 Sound component
jù sentence

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

锔焗侷鋦

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartgjowkN-kʰ(r)ok bent, curved
gjowk[g](r)ok department

說文解字

《說文》：“局，促也。从口在尺下，復局之。一曰博所以行棊。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.101
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

間 jiān, jian, jiàn space Traditional

Depicts sunlight (日) shining through the gap in a door (門).

Components

門
門 Iconic component
mén, men door
日
日 Iconic component
rì sun

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

簡澗

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

澗

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkeankˤre[n] interval
keankˤre[n] 間關 sound of a chariot's linchpin (Ode 218.1)
heanN-kˤre[n] idle

Sources

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