俯卧撑
fǔ​wò​chēng

push-up

俯 fǔ bow down

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 府 represents the sound. Simplified form of 俛.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

府
府 Sound component
fǔ government

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangpoʔ
Unicodebiǒ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

卧 wò lie down Simplified

Variant form of 臥. Depicts a person (人) with their eye (臣) leaning forward preparing to lie down and sleep.

Components

臣
臣 Iconic component
chén minister

Depicts an eye.

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person

Current form looks like 卜.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 人 than it was in ancient scripts.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

撑 chēng, cheng prop up Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 掌 represents the sound. Simplified form of 撐.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

掌
掌 Sound component
zhǎng, zhang palm of hand

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

臥 wò lie down Traditional

Depicts a person (人) with their eye (臣) leaning forward preparing to lie down and sleep.

Components

臣
臣 Iconic component
chén minister

Depicts an eye.

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngwaH[ŋ]ˤ[o]j-s lie down, sleep

說文解字

《說文》：“臥，休也。从人、臣，取其伏也。”

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)

撐 chēng, cheng prop up Traditional

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

hand

牚
牚 Sound component
chēng, chèng

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangrtʰaːŋ
Unicodetjæ̌ng

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang