Original meaning: sepals
Pictograph of sepals of a flower. The modern meaning "no" is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
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)
Simplified
Components
Character Evolution
說文解字
《說文》：“付，與也。从寸，持物對人。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: obey
Depicts a woman (女) obeying spoken (口) orders. Based on the original meaning "obey". The meaning later shifted to "be similar" and "like". 女 also serves as a sound component.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nyo | na | go to |
| nyo | na | as, like, if |
說文解字
《說文》：“如，从隨也。从女，从口。”
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)
Origin unclear. Two possible explanations are (1) depicts a person (人) stopping (止), meaning "here", and (2) depicts a foot (止) kicking a person (人), based on an earlier meaning "to kick" (跐).
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tshjeX | [tsʰ]e(j)ʔ | this |
說文解字
《說文》：“此，止也。从止，从匕。匕，相比次也。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.119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 | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ginH | [g]rə[r]-s | barely |
說文解字
《說文》：“僅，材能也。从人，堇聲。”
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)