一着不慎，满盘皆输 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

yī one

A single horizontal stroke, representing the number one.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	'jit	ʔi[t]	one

說文解字

《說文》：“一，惟初太始，道立於一，造分天地，化成萬物。弌，古文一。”

Sources

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

zhe, zháo, zhuó [progress particle] Simplified

Original meaning: chopsticks

Simplified form of 著. 艹 represents the meaning and 者 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "chopsticks", now written as 箸. The modern meanings are phonetic loans.

Components

艹 Meaning Simplified component

cao, cǎo grass

Alludes to bamboo chopsticks. 艹 and ⺮ (bamboo) were often used interchangeably with each other because of their visual and semantic similarity.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 艹 than it was in ancient scripts.

者 Sound component

zhě one who...

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese
Unicode	djiɑk
	djiɑk

Sources

Character origin: Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters
Readings & variants: Unicode

bù, bu no

Original meaning: sepals

Pictograph of sepals of a flower. The modern meaning "no" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (3 of 5 verified)

否杯钚罘盃

Simplified (4)

还环怀坏

Meaning (1 of 4 verified)

否歪甭孬

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	pjuw	pə	not
	pjuw	pə	不律 writing brush (pron. in Wú 吳 ap. Shuōwén; E. Hàn)

說文解字

《說文》：“不，鳥飛上翔不下來也。从一，一猶天也。象形。”

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)

shèn act with care

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 真 represents the sound.

Components

忄 Meaning component

xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

真 Sound component

zhēn real

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dzyinH	[d]i[n]-s	careful

說文解字

《說文》：“慎，謹也。从心，真聲。昚，古文。”

Sources

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

mǎn fill Simplified

Simplified form of 滿. Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 㒼 represents the sound.

Components

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

𬜯 Simplified component

liǎng name of a variety of grass

Simplified from the traditional phonetic component 㒼.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

懑

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

懑

Sources

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

pán, pan tray Simplified

Simplified form of 盤. Phonosemantic compound. 皿 represents the meaning and 般 represents the sound.

Components

皿 Meaning component

mǐn, mǐng dish

舟 Simplified component

zhōu boat

Shorthand for the 般 component in the traditional character 盤.

Sources

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

jiē all

Depicts people (从) moving and speaking (曰) together, conveying the meaning "all". (Oversimplified for brevity. The real story of this character is quite complicated.)

Components

从 Iconic component

cóng, cōng from

Depicts two people. Modern form looks like 比.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 从 than it was in ancient scripts.

曰 Iconic component

yuē say

Modern form looks like 白.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 曰 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (2 of 9 verified)

谐楷揩偕锴階喈蒈諧

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	keaj	kˤrij	all

說文解字

《說文》：“皆，俱詞也。从比，从白。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.289-290
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

shū transport Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 车 represents the meaning and 俞 represents the sound. Simplified form of 輸.

Components

车 Meaning component

chē cart, vehicle

俞 Sound component

yú, shù surname

Sources

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

zhe, zháo, zhù [progress particle] Traditional

Original meaning: chopsticks

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 者 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "chopsticks", now written as 箸. The modern meanings are phonetic loans.