亚太地区 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

Yà Tàidìqū

Asia-Pacific

yà Asia, sub- Simplified

Original meaning: tomb

Simplified form of 亞. Depicts a wooden structure where coffins are placed. Based on the original meaning "tomb". The current meaning "Asia" is a phonetic loan.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

恶哑娅垩桠氩垭痖

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

tài, tai very

Addition of a dot to 大 (dà; big) to mean "very" or "extremely".

Components

大 Sound Meaning component

dà, dài big

Change in sound

太 and 大 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
太 *l̥ˤa[t]-s
大 *lˤa[t]-s

丶 Distinguishing component

zhǔ dot

Character Evolution

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

Seal form — Seal Qin 221-206 BC

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

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

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (1 of 7 verified)

态汰钛肽呔酞鈦

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	thajH	l̥ˤa[t]-s	great

說文解字

《說文》：“泰，滑也。从廾，从水，大聲。夳，古文泰。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.800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)

de, dì earth

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 也 represents the sound.

Components

土 Meaning component

tǔ earth

也 Sound component

yě also

Change in sound

地 and 也 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
地 *[l]ˤej-s
也 *lAjʔ

Character Evolution

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

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

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dijH	[l]ˤej-s	earth, ground

說文解字

《說文》：“地，元气初分，輕、清、陽為天；重、濁、陰為地。萬物所陳列也。从土，也聲。墬，籀文地从。”

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)

qū area Simplified

Simplified form of 區. Depicts a group of things (品) in an enclosed area.

Components

匚 Iconic component

fāng, fàng box

Depicts an enclosed area.

品 Iconic Simplified component

pǐn product

Depicts a group of things.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 14 verified)

欧驱躯枢呕殴鸥岖抠讴沤瓯怄眍

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

Sources

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

yà Asia, sub- Traditional

Original meaning: tomb

Depicts a wooden structure where coffins are placed. Based on the original meaning "tomb". The current meaning "Asia" is a phonetic loan.

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 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 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

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

埡啞堊婭惡

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	'aeH	ʔˤrak-s	secondary

說文解字

《說文》：“亞，醜也。象人局背之形。賈侍中說以為次弟也。”

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)

qū area Traditional

Depicts a group of things (品) in an enclosed area.

Components

匚 Iconic component

fāng, fàng box

Depicts an enclosed area.

品 Iconic component

pǐn product

Depicts a group of things.

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC

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

Seal form — Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (1 of 15 verified)

驅軀嘔慪甌嶇歐鷗毆熰樞漚謳摳瞘

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	'uw	qˤ(r)o	(a measure)

說文解字

《說文》：“區，踦區，藏匿也。从品在匸中。品，眾也。”

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)