自嘲
zì​cháo

self-mockery

自 zì (nose), self

Original meaning: nose

Pictograph of a nose. Original form of 鼻 (nose). In China, when people point to themselves, they typically point to their nose.

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (5)

息鼻牵牽𰄩

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

瘪憩洎邊癟

Meaning (3 of 4 verified)

咱臭戛辠

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzijHs.[b]i[t]-s self (adv.)
dzijHs.[b]i[t]-s to follow; from

說文解字

《說文》：“自，鼻也。象鼻形。，古文自。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.272
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

嘲 cháo ridicule

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 朝 represents the sound.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
朝
朝 Sound component
cháo, zhāo dynasty

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangʔr'eːw
Unicodedjau

說文解字

謔也。从口朝聲。《漢書》通用啁。

Sources

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