Original meaning: file of ten soldiers
The character is based on the original meaning "file of ten soldiers". The modern meaning "what" is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dzyip | t.[g]əp | troop of ten men |
說文解字
《說文》：“什，相什保也。从人、十。”
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)
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | |
|---|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | tʰuːb | |
| Unicode | tɑp |
說文解字
《說文新附》：“塔，西域浮屠也。从土，答聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Zhengzhang Shangfang
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Sound (1)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | lop | [r]ˤəp | break |
說文解字
《說文》：“拉，摧也。从手，立聲。”
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)
Traditional
Pictograph of a crow. Similar to 鳥.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'u | [ʔ]ˤa | oh! |
| 'u | qˤa | crow, raven; black | |
| 'u | ʔˤa | 烏桓, 烏丸 Wūhuán: Avars (W. Hàn) |
說文解字
《說文》：“烏，孝鳥也。象形。孔子曰：‘烏，呼也。’取其助气，故以為烏呼。，古文烏，象形。於，象古文烏省。”
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)