Simplified
Simplified
Original meaning: wind instrument
Pictograph of a musical wind instrument with a reed, which is now written as 竽. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | hju | ɢʷ(r)a | go; at |
| hju | ɦʷa (< *ɢʷ(r)a) | 單于 chányú: Xiōngnú ruler (W. Hàn) |
說文解字
《說文》：“于，於也。象气之舒于。从丂，从一。一者，其气平之也。”
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)
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | lwit | [r]ut | law, rule (n.) |
| lwit | [r]ut | 不律 writing brush (pron. in Wú 吳 ap. Shuōwén; E. Hàn) |
說文解字
《說文》：“律，均布也。从彳，聿聲。”
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)
Origin unclear. Possibly a pictograph of a silk rope, in which case would be the original form of 紀.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kiX | k(r)əʔ | 6th heavenly stem |
| kiX | k(r)əʔ | self |
說文解字
《說文》：“己，中宮也，象萬物辟藏詘形也。己承戊，象人腹，，古文己。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.964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
Original meaning: exaggerate
Phonosemantic compound. 喦 represents the meaning and 敢 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "exaggerate". The meaning later shifted to "extreme", "severe", and "strict".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ngjaem | ŋ(r)am | stern, majestic |
說文解字
《說文》：“嚴，教命急也。从吅，聲。，古文。”
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
Originally a variant form of 烏, which is a pictograph of a crow. The current use as a function word is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'u | [ʔ]ˤa | oh! |
| 'jo | [ʔ]a | at (locative preposition) |
說文解字
《說文》：“烏，孝鳥也。象形。孔子曰：‘烏，呼也。’取其助气，故以為烏呼。，古文烏，象形。於，象古文烏省。”
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)