义不容辞 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

yì justice Simplified

Adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 義. Phonosemantic compound. 羊 represents the meaning and 我 represents the sound. In ancient China sheep (羊) were associated with goodness and beauty, which is why 羊 is a component in characters like 美 (beautiful), 善 (benevolent), and 義 (justice).

Components

羊 Meaning Simplified component

yáng sheep

我 Sound Simplified component

wǒ I; me

Change in sound

义 and 我 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
义 *ŋ(r)aj-s
我 *ŋˤajʔ

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

议仪蚁舣

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

bù, bu no

Original meaning: sepals

Pictograph of sepals of a flower. The modern meaning "no" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	pjuw	pə	not
	pjuw	pə	不律 writing brush (pron. in Wú 吳 ap. Shuōwén; E. Hàn)

說文解字

《說文》：“不，鳥飛上翔不下來也。从一，一猶天也。象形。”

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)

róng contain; appearance

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 公 represents the sound.

Components

宀 Meaning component

mián roof

公 Sound component

gōng public

Change in form

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

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

溶蓉镕榕鎔

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

熔镕鎔

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	yowng	[ɢ](r)oŋ	contain
	yowng	[ɢ](r)oŋ	appearance

說文解字

《說文》：“容，盛也。从宀、谷。，古文容从公。”

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)

cí words Simplified

Simplified form of 辭. Alludes to a governance (𤔔) dispute related to criminal law (辛). Based on the original meaning "litigation". The meaning later shifted to "words".

Components

舌 Simplified component

shé tongue

Shorthand for the 𤔔 component in the traditional character 亂.

辛 Meaning component

xīn laborious

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Sources

Character origin: 李学勤《字源》p.1277
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical images: Academia Sinica

yì right conduct Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 羊 represents the meaning and 我 represents the sound. In ancient China sheep (羊) were associated with goodness and beauty, which is why 羊 is a component in characters like 美 (beautiful), 善 (benevolent), and 義 (justice).