临汾市 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

lín draw near Simplified

Original meaning: to look down

Simplified form of 臨. Depicts a person (人) looking (臣) down at a pile of objects (品). 品 also represents the sound. Based on the original meaning, "to look down". The meaning has shifted over time and now means "draw near".

Components

臣 Iconic Simplified component

chén minister

Depicts an eye.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 臣 than it was in ancient scripts.

人 Iconic component

rén, ren person

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 人 than it was in ancient scripts.

品 Sound Iconic Simplified component

pǐn product

Here used to depict a pile of objects.

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.728-729
Readings & variants: Unicode

fén, pén, fēn river in Shanxi province

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 分 represents the sound.

Components

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

分 Sound component

fēn, fèn, fen divide

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

Seal form — Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang		bɯn
Unicode	bhiən

說文解字

水。出太原晉陽山，西南入河。从水分聲。或曰出汾陽北山，冀州浸。

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

shì market

Origin unclear. 止 represents the sound.

Components

止 Sound component

zhǐ (foot), stop

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 止 than it was in ancient scripts.

兮 Unknown component

xī exclamatory particle

The original purpose of this component is unclear.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 兮 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Meaning (2)

闹鬧

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

柿铈

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dzyiX	C.[d]əʔ	market (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“市，買賣所之也。市有垣，从冂，从乁。乁，古文及，象物相及也。之省聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.499-450
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

lín draw near Traditional

Original meaning: to look down

Depicts a person (人) looking (臣) down at a pile of objects (品). 品 also represents the sound. Based on the original meaning, "to look down". The meaning has shifted over time and now means "draw near".