一言以蔽之
yī​yán​yǐ​bì​zhī

summarize

一 yī one

A single horizontal stroke, representing the number one.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (9)

生之方或万旦曰巿丏

Meaning (2 of 7 verified)

百千兹闩戛晉閂

Unknown (2)

昼晝

Distinguishing (1)

夫

Simplified (1)

丛

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jitʔi[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)

言 yán speech

Pictograph of a tongue (舌) sticking out of a mouth. In old scripts 言 was written the same as 舌 but with an extra line.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts movement of the tongue coming out of the mouth.

舌
舌 Iconic component
shé tongue
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 舌 than it was in ancient scripts.

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 Late Warring States ~250 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
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

Meaning (68 of 163 verified)

信该警誉誓譬詹詈謇誊說論證診調訇認請謝訾話誤計語謂議護讀訓識讓設試記許討詳該辯諡諸談誌霅謹詞評訢詢課誘託訚講訂訴讕讚謦詣詩讞詼訪訌訛詿諄譜訕訝詠訃詫詬詮誠謬譯譽訟詭誕誡訣詰誰諛諮諱謨譫詒誇讙讌誾詐諧謚詛諂罰諉諒諦諺謀謠諠註説謄諳誦謌謫譴讎詡獄誙誚誹訥諤諫謾譚訶謎譖誼諭謔詔誑謗謙謅讒誒諙諶諷謊詆誅謳譏譙誣譭訖諾誆謐譎諜諢讖謁誨

Sound (3 of 5 verified)

善這唁狺䜌

Iconic (2)

音訊

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngjonŋa[n] (a particle)
ngjonŋa[n] I, we
ngjonŋa[n] speak; speech
ngjonŋa[r] tall

說文解字

《說文》：“言，直言曰言，論難曰語。从口，聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.160
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

以 yǐ by means of

Original meaning: carry

Depicts a person (人) carrying something.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts something being carried.

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person

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 Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

似拟苡姒

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartyiXləʔ take, use

說文解字

《說文》：“，用也。从反已。賈侍中說，已，意已實也。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.980
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

蔽 bì cover

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 敝 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

敝
敝 Sound component
bì worn out

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjiejHpe[t]-scover (v.)
Zhengzhangpeds
Unicodebiɛ̀i

說文解字

蔽蔽，小艸也。从艸敝聲。

Sources

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

之 zhī [attributive particle]

Original meaning: go forwards

Pictograph of a foot (止) going out of an area. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

止
止 SoundIconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 止 than it was in ancient scripts.
一
一 Iconic component
yī one

Used here to depict an area.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

志寺芝

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyitə go to
tsyitə (3p object pronoun; attributive particle)

說文解字

《說文》：“之，出也。象艸過屮，枝莖益大有所之。一者，地也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.498-499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)