举手之劳
jǔ​shǒu​zhī​láo

slight effort

举 jǔ, ju raise Simplified

Simplified form of 舉. Phonosemantic compound. 手 represents the meaning and 與 represents the sound.

Components

手
手 Meaning component
shǒu, shou hand
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 手 than it was in ancient scripts.
兴
兴 Simplified component
xìng, xīng rise, flourish

Shorthand for the 與 component in the traditional character 舉.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

榉

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

手 shǒu, shou hand

Pictograph of a hand.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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

Meaning (8 of 23 verified)

举拿掌摩拳攀摹挚擎挛掣掰挈挲搿擘搴舉掱擊攣拏摯

Iconic (2)

承拜

Deleted (1)

击

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsyuwXn̥uʔ hand

說文解字

《說文》：“手，拳也。象形。，古文手。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.844
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

之 zhī [attributive particle]

Original meaning: go forwards

Pictograph of a foot (止) going out of an area. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

止
止 SoundIconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 止 than it was in ancient scripts.
一
一 Iconic component
yī one

Used here to depict an area.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 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 (2 of 3 verified)

志寺芝

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyitə go to
tsyitə (3p object pronoun; attributive particle)

說文解字

《說文》：“之，出也。象艸過屮，枝莖益大有所之。一者，地也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.498-499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)

劳 láo labor Simplified

Simplified form of 勞. Depicts the hard work of sewing clothes (衣) with only firelight (炏). Later the 力 (strength, power) component was added.

Components

艹
艹 Simplified component
cao, cǎo grass

Shorthand for the 炏 (flame) component in the traditional character 勞.

衣
衣 IconicRemnant component
yī clothes
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 衣 than it was in ancient scripts.
力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power

Component uses

Sound (0 of 7 verified)

捞唠涝崂痨耢铹

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

舉 jǔ, ju raise Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 手 represents the meaning and 與 represents the sound.

Components

手
手 Meaning component
shǒu, shou hand
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 手 than it was in ancient scripts.
與
與 Sound component
yǔ, yù together with

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

櫸

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkjoXC.q(r)aʔ lift, raise
kjoX[k](r)aʔ all

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

勞 láo labor Traditional

Depicts the hard work of sewing clothes (衣) with only firelight (炏). Later the 力 (strength, power) component was added.

Components

炏
炏 Iconic component
yán, kài flame
衣
衣 IconicRemnant component
yī clothes
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 衣 than it was in ancient scripts.
力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

撈澇嘮嶗癆

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlaw[r]ˤaw toil
lawH[r]ˤaw-s to reward for toil

說文解字

《說文》：“勞，劇也。从力，熒省。熒火燒冂，用力者勞。，古文勞从悉。”

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)