信宿
xìn​sù

stay two nights

信 xìn trust

Conveys trusting (信) what a person (人) says (言). 人 is also a sound component.

Components

亻
亻 SoundMeaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

Change in sound
言
言 Meaning component
yán speech

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsinHs-ni[ŋ]-s truthful

說文解字

《說文》：“信，誠也。从人，从言，會意。，古文从言省。訃，古文信。”

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)

宿 sù, xiǔ lodge, sleep overnight

Depicts a person (亻) sleeping on a bamboo mat (㐁) under a roof (宀).

Components

宀
宀 Iconic component
mián roof
亻
亻 Iconic component
rén person
㐁
㐁 Iconic component
tiàn a mat

Depicts a bamboo mat. Later corrupted to unrelated 百.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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
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 (0 of 3 verified)

缩蓿縮

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsjuwk[s]uk spend the night
sjuwH[s]uk-s "mansion" of the zodiac (where the moon is found on successive nights)

說文解字

《說文》：“，止也。从宀，聲。，古文夙。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.597
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)