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.
Original meaning: eye disease
Phonosemantic compound. 目 represents the meaning and 生 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "eye disease", now written as 眚. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | sjengX | [s]eŋʔ | inspect |
說文解字
《說文》：“省，視也。从眉省，从屮。，古文从少，从囧。”
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
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
Component uses
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)
Traditional
Pictograph of three stalks of grain. Alludes to the even and uniform appearance of a grain field.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dzej | [dz]ˤəj | uniform, equal |
| dzej | [dz]ˤəj | Qí (place name) |
說文解字
《說文》：“齊，禾麥吐穗上平也。象形。”
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)