临渴掘井 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

kě thirsty

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

Components

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

曷 Sound component

hé, è, hè why? what? where?

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khat	Nə-[k]ʰˤat	thirsty

說文解字

《說文》：“渴，盡也。从水，曷聲。”

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)

jué dig

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 屈 represents the sound.

Components

扌 Meaning component

shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

屈 Sound component

qū, qu bend

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	gjut	[ɡ]ut	dig out (earth)
	gjwot	[ɡ]ot	dig out (earth)
Zhengzhang		ɡlod
		ɡlud
Unicode	ghiuæt
	ghiuət

說文解字

搰也。从手屈聲。

Sources

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

jǐng well

Pictograph of the opening of a water well.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsjengX	C.tseŋʔ	well (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“井，八家一井。象構韓形。‧，之象也。古者伯益初作井。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.428-429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)

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".