Simplified
Original meaning: wind instrument
Pictograph of a musical wind instrument with a reed, which is now written as 竽. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | hju | ɢʷ(r)a | go; at |
| hju | ɦʷa (< *ɢʷ(r)a) | 單于 chányú: Xiōngnú ruler (W. Hàn) |
說文解字
《說文》：“于，於也。象气之舒于。从丂，从一。一者，其气平之也。”
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
Depicts an ancient wooden stringed musical instrument. 白 represents the sound.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | lak | [r]ˤawk | to cure |
| lak | [r]ˤawk | joy; enjoy | |
| ngaewH | [ŋ]ˤrawk-s | cause to rejoice | |
| ngaewk | [ŋ]ˤrawk | music |
說文解字
《說文》：“樂，五聲八音緫名。象鼓鞞。木，虡也。”
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
Originally a variant form of 烏, which is a pictograph of a crow. The current use as a function word is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'u | [ʔ]ˤa | oh! |
| 'jo | [ʔ]a | at (locative preposition) |
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)