仰卧式
yǎng​wò​shì

corpse pose

仰 yǎng raise the head to look

To exalt 卬 a person 亻

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person
卬
卬 Meaning component
áng, ang, yǎng high

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngjangXC.ŋaŋʔlift the face, look up
Zhengzhangŋaŋʔ
ŋaŋs
Unicodengiɑ̌ng
ngiɑ̌ng

說文解字

舉也。从人从卬。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

卧 wò lie down Simplified

Variant form of 臥. Depicts a person (人) with their eye (臣) leaning forward preparing to lie down and sleep.

Components

臣
臣 Iconic component
chén minister

Depicts an eye.

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person

Current form looks like 卜.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 人 than it was in ancient scripts.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

式 shì, shi style

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

Components

工
工 Meaning component
gōng work
弋
弋 Sound component
yì to shoot
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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 (2 of 7 verified)

试轼拭弑試弒軾

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsyikl̥ək pattern
syikl̥ək to wipe

說文解字

《說文》：“式，法也。从工，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)

臥 wò lie down Traditional

Depicts a person (人) with their eye (臣) leaning forward preparing to lie down and sleep.

Components

臣
臣 Iconic component
chén minister

Depicts an eye.

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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 Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngwaH[ŋ]ˤ[o]j-s lie down, sleep

說文解字

《說文》：“臥，休也。从人、臣，取其伏也。”

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)