亦敌亦友
yì​dí​yì​yǒu

friend and foe

亦 yì also

Original meaning: armpit

Pictograph of a person, with two dots at the armpits. Based on the original meaning "armpit", now written as 腋. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

大
大 Iconic component
dà, dài big

Depicts a person.

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Indicates the location of the armpits.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 7 verified)

夜迹蛮奕栾弈跡

Meaning (0 of 4 verified)

鸾銮孪娈

Simplified (3)

恋弯蛮

Unknown (0 of 3 verified)

挛峦脔

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyek[ɢ](r)Ak armpit
yekɢ(r)Ak also

說文解字

《說文》：“亦，人之臂亦也。从大，象兩亦之形。”

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)

敌 dí enemy Simplified

Simplified form of 敵. Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 啻 represents the sound.

Components

舌
舌 Simplified component
shé tongue

Shorthand for the 啻 component in the traditional character 敵.

攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

友 you, yǒu friend

Pictograph of two hands together to convey the meaning "friend". 又 also represents the sound.

Components

又
又 SoundIconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.

又
又 SoundIconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthjuwX[ɢ]ʷəʔ friend

說文解字

《說文》：“友，同志為友。从二又，相交友也。，古文友。。亦古文友。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.211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)

敵 dí enemy Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 啻 represents the sound.

Components

啻
啻 Sound component
chì, dì only
Change in sound
攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdek[d]ˤek oppose; enemy

說文解字

《說文》：“敵，仇也。从攴，啻聲。”

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)