假途灭虢
jiǎ​tú​miè Guó

double-cross

假 jiǎ, jià falsehood

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 叚 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

叚
叚 SoundMeaning component
jiǎ, xiá false

叚 also serves as a meaning component.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkaeXCə.kˤraʔ borrow; false
kaeXkˤraʔ great

說文解字

《說文》：“假，非真也。从人，叚聲。一曰至也。《虞書》曰：‘假于上下。’”

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)

途 tú way, journey

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 余 represents the sound.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

余
余 Sound component
yú I
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdulˤa road

Sources

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

灭 miè extinguish Simplified

Depicts putting a cover over a fire (火) to smother it. Simplified from 滅.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a cover used to smother a fire.

火
火 Iconic component
huǒ fire

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

虢 guó name of ancient feudal State in Shenxi and Hunan

Original meaning: to fight a tiger

Depicts a hand (爫) and a hand holding a weapon (攴) fighting with a tiger (虎). The component 攴 was later reanalyzed as 寸 (hand). Based on the original meaning "to fight a tiger". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

爫
爫 Iconic component
zhǎo hand, claw

爫 is a component form of 爪.

寸
寸 Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Originally 攴, which depicts a hand holding a weapon. Later reanalyzed as 寸 (hand).

虎
虎 Iconic component
hǔ, hu tiger

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwaek[k]ʷˤrak (place name)

說文解字

《說文》：“虢，虎所攫畫明文也。从虎，寽聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.410
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

滅 miè extinguish Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 烕 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

烕
烕 SoundMeaning component
miè extinguish

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmjiet[m]et destroy

說文解字

《說文》：“滅，盡也。从水，烕聲。”

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)