Original meaning: to lie down
Depicts a person (亻) lying down next to a dog (犬). The meaning later shifted to "crouch".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | bjuwH | [b]ək-s | hatch (v.) |
| bjuwk | [b]ək | lie prostrate |
說文解字
《說文》：“伏，司也。从人，从犬。”
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: sacrificial slaughter
Depicts a weapon (我) slaughtering a pig for the purpose of sacrificing an animal for offering. The 我 component was later reanalyzed into phonetic component 義 and the component depicting the slaughtered pig was later reanalyzed as meaning component 兮. Based on the original meaning "sacrificial slaughter", now written as 犧. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | xje | ŋ̊(r)aj | (proper name) |
說文解字
《說文》：“羲，气也。从兮，義聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫李学勤 《字源》 p.422
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Pictograph of a tool similar to a hammer that is shaped like deer antlers. Original meaning unclear.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dzyeX | k.deʔ | clan |
說文解字
《說文》：“氏，巴蜀山名岸脅之旁箸欲落者曰氏。氏崩聲聞數百里。象形，乀聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.859-860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)