争名夺利
zhēng​míng​duó​lì

scrambling for gain

争 zhēng strife, quarrel Simplified

Simplified form of 爭. Depicts two hands (爫 又) grabbing the same plow.

Components

爫
爫 IconicSimplified component
zhǎo hand, claw
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 爫 than it was in ancient scripts.
又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 又 than it was in ancient scripts.
◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a plow.

Component uses

Sound (2 of 10 verified)

静净挣睁铮筝狰诤峥錚

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

挣诤

Sources

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

名 míng name

Depicts a mouth (口) saying their own name at night (夕) when it is too dark for others to see them.

Components

夕
夕 Iconic component
xī evening

Depicts the moon.

口
口 Iconic 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 Spring and Autumn ~500 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

铭茗酩眳銘

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

铭銘

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmjiengC.meŋ name

說文解字

《說文》：“名，自命也。从口，从夕。夕者，冥也。冥不相見，故以口自名。”

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)

夺 duó take by force Simplified

Simplified form of 奪. Depicts a hand (寸) snatching a bird (隹). The top component was originally 衣 (clothes), depicting a person holding a bird in their clothes, but later it was reanalyzed as a phonetic component, written as either 兌 or 大.

Components

大
大 Sound component
dà, dài big
奪
隹 Deleted component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird
寸
寸 Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Sources

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

利 lì, li benefit

Depicts harvesting grain (禾) with a blade (刂). Harvest was the main source of profit in agricultural societies.

Components

禾
禾 Iconic component
hé grain stalk
刂
刂 Iconic component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 11 verified)

黎莉梨犁俐痢蜊猁脷唎悧

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

悧

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlijHC.ri[t]-s sharp; profit

說文解字

《說文》：“利，銛也。从刀；和然後利，从和省。《易》曰：‘利者，義之和也。’”

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)

爭 zhēng strife, quarrel Traditional

Depicts two hands (爫 又) grabbing the same plow.

Components

爫
爫 Iconic component
zhǎo hand, claw

爫 is a component form of 爪.

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 又 than it was in ancient scripts.
◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a plow.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 8 verified)

靜箏崢掙凈淨睜猙

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

掙

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsreang[ts]ˤreŋ
(~ *m-tsˤreŋ or *mə-tsˤreŋ)		strife, quarrel

說文解字

《說文》：“爭，引也。从、厂。”

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)

奪 duó take by force Traditional

Depicts a hand (寸) snatching a bird (隹). The top component was originally 衣 (clothes), depicting a person holding a bird in their clothes, but later it was reanalyzed as a phonetic component, written as either 兌 or 大.

Components

大
大 Sound component
dà, dài big
隹
隹 Iconic component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird
寸
寸 Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdwatCə.lˤot seize

說文解字

《說文》：“，手持隹失之也。从又，从。”

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)