Original meaning: whip a person
Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 𠓥 represents the sound. Originally written as 𠓥, which depicted a hand holding a whip with the 丙 component. Based on the original meaning "whip a person", now written as 鞭. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | bjienH | [b]e[n]-s | comfortable; advantageous |
| bjien | [b]e[n] | glib-tongued |
說文解字
《說文》：“便，安也。人有不便，更之。从人、更。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫李学勤 《字源》 p.711The Outlier Linguistics Dictionary of Chinese Characters
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: submit, serve
Combination of 凡 (plate) and subdue (𠬝). Based on the original meaning "serve" or "submit". 凡 alludes to serving a plate.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Sound (0 of 1 verified)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | bjuwk | [b]ək | quiver (n.) |
| bjuwk | [b]ək | garment; wear (v.) | |
| bjuwk | [b]ək | subdue, submit | |
| bjuwX | [b]əʔ | box of a carriage |
說文解字
《說文》：“服，用也。一曰車右騑，所以舟旋。从舟，聲。，古文服，从人。”
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)