Original meaning: pedestal
Depicts a platform to put things on. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pjaengX | praŋʔ | 3d heavenly stem |
說文解字
《說文》：“丙，位南方，萬物成炳然。陰气初起，陽气將虧，从一入冂。一者，陽也。丙承乙，象人肩。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.961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)
Pictograph of a small child with its two arms waving.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tsiX | [ts]əʔ | 1st earthly branch |
| tsiX | tsəʔ | child; gentleman, master |
說文解字
《說文》：“子，十一月陽气動，萬物滋，人以為偁。象形。，古文子，从巛，象髮也。，籀文子，囟有髮，臂、脛在几上也。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 徐中舒《甲骨文字典》p.1571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)
Original meaning: flesh under the chin of a cow
Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 古 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "flesh under the chin of a cow", which later shifted to "beard" (now written as 鬍 in traditional characters). Also used pejoratively to refer to foreigners from central Asia, who tended to have more beards than Han Chinese people. This meaning also shifted to "reckless" and "outrageous".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | hu | [g]ˤa | foreigners in the north |
說文解字
《說文》：“胡，牛垂也。从肉，古聲。”
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)
Simplified
Original meaning: untangle threads
Simplified form of 亂. Originally written as 𤔔, which depicts two hands (𠬪) untangling threads (幺) on a silk frame. 乚 was later added as a distinguishing mark. The meaning later shifted to "mess" and "confusion".
Components
Shorthand for the 𤔔 component in the traditional character 亂.
Traditional
Original meaning: untangle threads
Originally written as 𤔔, which depicts two hands (𠬪) untangling threads (幺) on a silk frame. 乚 was later added as a distinguishing mark. The meaning later shifted to "mess" and "confusion".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | lwanH | [r]ˤo[n]-s | disorder, rebellion |
說文解字
《說文》：“亂，治也。从乙。乙，治之也。从。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.960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)