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)
Pictograph of a shirt or coat.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'j+j | ʔ(r)əj | clothes |
| 'j+jH | ʔ(r)əj-s | wear (v.t.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“衣，依也。上曰衣，下曰裳。象覆二人之形。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.663
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kjaengX | kreŋʔ | warn, admonish |
說文解字
戒也。从言从敬，敬亦聲。
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)
Original meaning: eaves
Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 祭 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "eaves". The meaning later shifted to "observe from above", "examine", and "inspect".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tsrheat | [tsʰ]ˤret | examine |
說文解字
《說文》：“察，覆也。从宀、祭。”
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)