代理孕母
dài​lǐ​yùn​mǔ

surrogacy

代 dài replace

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 弋 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

弋
弋 Sound component
yì to shoot
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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 Qin 221-206 BC
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 (1 of 6 verified)

袋贷黛岱玳貸

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdojHlˤək-s replace

說文解字

《說文》：“代，更也。从人，弋聲。”

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)

理 lǐ, li reason

Original meaning: cut jade

Phonosemantic compound. 𤣩 represents the meaning and 里 represents the sound.

Components

𤣩
𤣩 Meaning component
yù jade

𤣩 is a component form of 玉.

Change in meaning
𤣩 hints at the original meaning of 理, "cut jade", which is no longer the most common meaning of 理 in modern Mandarin.
里
里 Sound component
lǐ, li village

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartliXm(ə).rəʔ cut jade; regulate
liXm(ə).rəʔ reason; principle

說文解字

《說文》：“理，治玉也。从玉，里聲。”

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)

孕 yùn be pregnant

Pictograph of a pregnant woman (身) with a child (子) inside of her body.

Components

身
身 Iconic component
shēn body

Depicts a woman with her uterus emphasized. Modern form looks like unrelated 乃.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 身 than it was in ancient scripts.
子
子 Iconic component
zi, zǐ child

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartyingHl[i]ŋ-s pregnant

說文解字

《說文》：“孕，褢子也。从子，从几。”

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)

母 mǔ mother

Pictograph of a woman kneeling, with two dots representing the two nipples that mothers use to feed their young.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 (1 of 5 verified)

姆拇坶呣鉧

Iconic (2)

后每

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmuwXməʔ (? or *mˤoʔ) mother

說文解字

《說文》：“母，牧也。从女，象褱子形。一曰象乳子也。”

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)