huì​yì​zì

associative compound

huì, kuài to gather Simplified

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and 𡆧 represents the sound.

Components

to join
𡆧
guó ironware
Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (1 of 12 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.442
Readings & variants
Unicode

yì, yi thought

Thought () is the sound () that comes from the mind (). (Oversimplified for brevity. The component in this character has a complicated history.)

Components

Meaning component
yīn sound
Meaning component
xīn, xin heart

Character Evolution

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 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)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'iHʔ(r)ək-s thought (n.)

說文解字

《說文》:“意,志也。从心察言而知意也。从心,从音。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.790-791漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

zì, zi letter

Original meaning: raise up children

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. The (roof) component is based on the original meaning "raise up children". The meaning later shifted to "educate", "word", and "writing".

Components

Meaning component
mián roof
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "raise up children", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
SoundMeaning component
zi, zǐ child
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "raise up children", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdziHmə-dzə(ʔ)-s breed, love (v.); character

說文解字

《說文》:“字,乳也。从子在宀下,子亦聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

huì, kuài to gather Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and 𡆧 represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
to join
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
𡆧
𡆧 Sound component
guó ironware
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 11 verified)

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthwajHm-kˤop-s meeting; have a meeting
hwajHɦʷˤajs (< *m-kˤop-s)阿會亘 ēhuìxuān: Skt. ābhāsvara ‘shining’ (E. Hàn)
kwajHkˤop-s calculate; calculation

說文解字

《說文》:“會,合也。从亼,从曾省。曾,益也。令,古文會如此。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.442
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica