先声夺人
xiān​shēng​duó​rén

gain initiative

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)

声 shēng, sheng sound Simplified

Remnant of the character 殸 (stone chimes). Depicts a musical stone chime hung up on a rope. Simplified form of 聲.

Components

糸
糸 Iconic component
mì, sī silk

Depicts a rope. Modern form looks like unrelated 士.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 糸 than it was in ancient scripts.
石
石 Iconic component
shí stone
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 石 than it was in ancient scripts.

Component uses

Iconic (2)

磬殸

Sources

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

夺 duó take by force Simplified

Simplified form of 奪. Depicts a hand (寸) snatching a bird (隹). The top component was originally 衣 (clothes), depicting a person holding a bird in their clothes, but later it was reanalyzed as a phonetic component, written as either 兌 or 大.

Components

大
大 Sound component
dà, dài big
奪
隹 Deleted component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird
寸
寸 Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Sources

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

人 rén, ren person

Pictograph of the side view of a standing person.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (65)

以年从此内先及克死万企众坐负竟介监临亮鬼兄闪寒盾夹卧欠吊兑囚蜀虐羌敖戍奂艮臨臥負閃監弔疒兌兒冘皃夌㐱夾夃奐臽卬翏丏𠩺𡵂𦰋飤幾秊𥁕厃

Meaning (4 of 5 verified)

队亮允佘仝

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

认氽䧹

Simplified (1)

队

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

隳

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnyinni[ŋ] (other) person

說文解字

《說文》：“人，天地之性最貴者也。此籀文，象臂脛之形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.630
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

聲 shēng, sheng sound Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 耳 represents the meaning and 殸 represents the sound.

Components

耳
耳 Meaning component
ěr ear
殸
殸 Sound component
qìng, kēng, shēng stone chimes
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 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-Sagartsyeng[l̥]eŋ sound (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“聲，音也。从耳，殸聲。殸，籀文磬。”

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)

奪 duó take by force Traditional

Depicts a hand (寸) snatching a bird (隹). The top component was originally 衣 (clothes), depicting a person holding a bird in their clothes, but later it was reanalyzed as a phonetic component, written as either 兌 or 大.

Components

大
大 Sound component
dà, dài big
隹
隹 Iconic component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird
寸
寸 Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdwatCə.lˤot seize

說文解字

《說文》：“，手持隹失之也。从又，从。”

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)