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
Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 斤 represents the sound. Simplified form of 聽. Before 听 was used as a simplified character, it was pronounced yǐn and was an archaic word for "smile".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Old Chinese | |
|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | ŋɡrɯnʔ |
| ŋɡɯnʔ |
說文解字
《說文》：“听，笑皃。从口，斤聲。”
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Zhengzhang Shangfang
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: command
Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 令 represents the sound and meaning. Based on the original meaning "command". The meaning later shifted to "fate" and "life".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | mjaengH | m-riŋ-s (dialect: *m-r- > *mr-, *-iŋ> *-eŋ) | command (n.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“命，使也。从口，从令。”
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
Component uses
Sound (1)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | theng | l̥ˤeŋ | listen |
| thengH | l̥ˤeŋ-s | listen to; obey |
說文解字
《說文》：“聽，聆也。从耳、，声。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.841
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)