Original meaning: musical tube made of bamboo
Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 官 represents the sound. Originally a musical tube made of bamboo. The meaning "to manage" is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kwanX | [k]ˤo[n]ʔ | tube; flute |
| kwanX | kʷˤa[n]ʔ | exhausted, helpless | |
| kwanX | kʷˤa[n]ʔ | helpless |
說文解字
《說文》：“管，如箎，六孔，十二月之音，物開地牙，故謂之管。从竹，官聲。琯，古者玉琯以玉。舜之時，西王母來獻其白琯。前零陵文學姓奚，於伶道舜祠下得笙玉琯。夫以玉作音，故神人以和，鳳皇來儀也。从玉，官聲。”
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)
Simplified
Original meaning: viper
Pictograph of a snake.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Old Chinese | |
|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | hŋlulʔ |
說文解字
《說文》：“虫，一名蝮，博三寸，首大如擘指。象其卧形。物之微細，或行，或毛，或蠃，或介，或鱗，以虫為象。”
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)
Traditional
Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 員 represents the sound. Originally written as 員.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | hjwen | ɢʷ<r>en | round |
說文解字
《說文》：“圓，圜。全也。从囗，員聲，讀若員。”
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)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | |
|---|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | sqʰeːns | |
| Unicode | siɛ̀n |
說文解字
《說文》：“綫，縷也。从糸，戔聲。線，古文綫。”
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)
Traditional
Triple of 虫.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Iconic (1)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | drjuwng | C.lruŋ | insect |
說文解字
《說文》：“蟲，有足謂之蟲，無足謂之豸。从三虫。”
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)