先决问题
xiān​jué​wèn​tí

prerequisite

先 xiān first

Depicts a person (人) stepping forward (止) leading the way.

Components

止
止 Iconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot stepping forward.

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

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 11 verified)

选洗宪酰诜铣跣冼筅銑兟

Meaning (1)

兟

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsensˤər first
senHsˤər-s go first

說文解字

《說文》：“先，前進也。从儿，从之。”

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)

决 jué decide Simplified

Simplified form of 決. Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 夬 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "burst open". The meaning later shifted to "clear", "cut off", "decide" and "judge".

Components

冫
冫 Simplified component
bīng ice

Shorthand for the 氵 component in the traditional character 決. 氵 is a component form of 水.

夬
夬 Sound component
guài, jué parted
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

问 wèn, wen ask (about) Simplified

Simplified form of 問. Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 门 represents the sound.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
门
门 Sound component
mén, men door

Sources

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

题 tí topic Simplified

Original meaning: forehead

Simplified form of 題. Phonosemantic compound. 页 represents the meaning and 是 represents the sound. The character is based on the original meaning "forehead". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

页
页 Meaning component
yè page

Depicts a head.

是
是 Sound component
shì, shi is
Change in sound

Sources

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

決 jué decide Traditional

Original meaning: burst open

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 夬 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "burst open". The meaning later shifted to "clear", "cut off", "decide" and "judge".

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

夬
夬 Sound component
guài, jué parted
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwet[k]ʷˤet open a passage for a stream
kwet[k]ʷˤet open; decide

說文解字

《說文》：“決，行流也。从水，从夬。廬江有決水，出於大別山。”

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)

問 wèn, wen ask (about) Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 門 represents the sound.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
門
門 Sound component
mén, men door

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmjunHC.mu[n]-s ask

說文解字

《說文》：“問，訊也。从口，門聲。”

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)

題 tí topic Traditional

Original meaning: forehead

Phonosemantic compound. 頁 represents the meaning and 是 represents the sound. The character is based on the original meaning "forehead". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

頁
頁 Meaning component
yè (head), page

Depicts a head.

是
是 Sound component
shì, shi is
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangdeː
deːs
Unicodedhei

說文解字

《說文》：“題，頟也。从頁，是聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)