为时过早
wéi​shí​guò​zǎo

premature

为 wèi, wéi do Simplified

Simplified form of 為. Pictograph of a hand (又) guiding an elephant (象) to do work (in ancient China elephants were tamed to do work). Based on the meaning "to work; to do".

Components

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 又 than it was in ancient scripts.
象
象 IconicSimplified component
xiàng elephant

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

伪沩

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.194
Readings & variants
Unicode

时 shí time Simplified

Simplified form of 時.

Components

日
日 Meaning component
rì sun
寸
寸 Simplified component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Shorthand for the 寺 component in the traditional character 時.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

鲥莳埘

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

过 guò, guo pass Simplified

Simplified form of 過. Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 咼 represents the sound. The 咼 component was simplified to 寸.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

寸
寸 Simplified component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Shorthand for the 咼 component in the traditional character 過.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

挝

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

早 zǎo early

Phonosemantic compound. 日 represents the meaning and 棗 represents the sound. The form of the original phonetic component 棗 was abbreviated to look like 十.

Components

日
日 Meaning component
rì sun
棗
棗 Sound component
zǎo date tree
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 棗 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

草

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsawXNə.tsˤuʔ early

說文解字

《說文》：“早，晨也。从日在甲上。”

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)

為 wèi, wéi do Traditional

Originally written as 爲, which depicts a hand (又) guiding an elephant (象) to do work (in ancient China elephants were tamed to do work). Based on the meaning "to work; to do".

Components

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 又 than it was in ancient scripts.
象
象 Iconic component
xiàng elephant
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 象 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

偽

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthjweɢʷ(r)aj make, do, act as
hjweHɢʷ(r)aj-s for, because

說文解字

《說文》：“爲，母猴也，其爲禽好爪，爪，母猴象也；下腹爲母猴形。王育曰：‘爪，象形也。’，古文爲，象兩母猴相對形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.194
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

時 shí time Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 日 represents the meaning and 寺 represents the sound.

Components

日
日 Meaning component
rì sun
寺
寺 Sound component
sì, shì temple

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

蒔鰣

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzyi[d]ə
(~ *[d]əʔ)		time

說文解字

《說文》：“時，四時也。从日，寺聲。旹，古文時，从之、日。”

Sources

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

過 guò, guo pass Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 咼 represents the sound.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

咼
咼 Sound component
chat

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

撾

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkwaCə.kʷˤaj tough, fibrous (vegetables)
kwakʷˤaj to pass
kwaHkʷˤaj-s to pass; transgress

說文解字

度也。从辵咼聲。

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)