了若指掌

了 le, liǎo, liào finish Simplified

Original meaning: armless child

Pictograph of a young child, similar to 子, but without arms. Compare to 孑 (child only with right arm) and 孓 (child only with left arm). The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

子
子 IconicRemnant component
zi, zǐ child

A child (子) without arms.


Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

疗辽钌

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangreːwʔ
Unicodeleǔ
leǔ

說文解字

《說文》：“了，尦也。从子無臂，象形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.972
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

若 ruò if

Original meaning: conform, obey

Pictograph of a kneeling person smoothing out their unkempt hair with their hands. Based on the original meaning "conform, obey". The 口 (mouth) component was added later when the character became more abstract.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts unkempt hair.

𠂇
𠂇 Iconic component
zuǒ left hand

Depicts a hand smoothing out the hair.

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 8 verified)

诺惹匿偌喏锘箬諾

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnyaknak you
nyaknak agree

說文解字

《說文》：“若，擇菜也。从艸、右。右，手也。一曰杜若，香艸。”

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)

指 zhǐ, zhí, zhī finger

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 旨 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

旨
旨 Sound component
zhǐ purpose

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyijXmə.kijʔ finger; point

說文解字

《說文》：“指，手指也。从手，旨聲。”

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)

掌 zhǎng, zhang palm of hand

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

Components

尚
尚 Sound component
shàng, shang esteem
手
手 Meaning component
shǒu, shou hand

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Xin 9-23 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Xin 9-23 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

撑

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyangX[k.t]aŋʔ palm of the hand

說文解字

《說文》：“掌，手中也。从手，尚聲。”

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)

瞭 liǎo, liào bright Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 目 represents the meaning and 尞 represents the sound.

Components

目
目 Meaning component
mù eye
尞
尞 Sound component
liào, liáo burnt offering

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangreːw
reːwʔ
Unicodeleu
lěu

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang