八仙过海，各显其能 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

bā eight

Original meaning: separate

Pictograph of two lines facing away from each other. The current meaning "eight" is a phonetic loan. The original meaning "separate" is now written as 別.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	peat	pˤret	eight

說文解字

《說文》：“八，別也。象分別相背之形。”

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)

xian, xiān Taoist super-being

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 山 represents the sound. Simplified form of 僊.

Components

亻 Meaning component

rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

山 Sound component

shān mountain

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	sjen	[s]a[r]	immortal (n.)
Zhengzhang		sen
Unicode	siɛn
	siɛn

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images: Academia Sinica

guò, guo pass Simplified

Simplified form of 過. Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 咼 represents the sound. The 咼 component was simplified to 寸.

Components

辶 Meaning component

chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

寸 Simplified component

cùn, cun (hand), inch

Shorthand for the 咼 component in the traditional character 過.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

挝

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

hǎi sea

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

Components

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

每 Sound component

měi every

Change in sound

海 and 每 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
海 *m̥ˤəʔ (dialect *m̥ˤ- > x-)
每 *mˤəʔ

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1)

嗨

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	xojX	m̥ˤəʔ (dialect *m̥ˤ- > x-)	sea

說文解字

《說文》：“海，天池也，以納百川者。从水，每聲。”

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)

gè each

Original meaning: arrive

Depicts a foot (夂) arriving at an entrance (口). Based on the original meaning "arrive". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

夂 Iconic component

zhǐ, zhōng go

夂 is a component form of 止, which depicts a foot.

口 Iconic component

kǒu, kou mouth

Depicts an entrance.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (7 of 27 verified)

路格客略洛络阁胳咯骆烙骼恪酪铬珞貉硌袼辂絡饹閣賂餎鉻駱 show all 27 show fewer

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kak	kˤak	each

說文解字

《說文》：“各，異辭也。从口、夂。夂者，有行而止之，不相聽也。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.100-101
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

xiǎn evident, make visible, clear Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 日 represents the meaning and 𢇁 represents the sound. Simplified form of 顯.

Components

日 Meaning component

rì sun

业 Simplified component

yè profession

Shorthand for the phonetic 𢇁 component in the traditional character 㬎.

Component uses

Sound (1)

湿

Sources

Character origin: 李学勤《字源》p.783-784漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode

qí its, his, (3p possessive)

Original meaning: basket

Pictograph of a basket, now written as 箕. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (8 of 18 verified)

斯期基旗欺棋琪祺淇箕麒綦骐萁蜞鯕鲯朞

Iconic (3)

粪糞棄

Deleted (1)

弃

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	gi	gə	modal particle
	gi	gə	(3p possessive)

說文解字

《說文》：“箕，簸也。从竹；，象形；下其丌也。，古文箕省。，亦古文箕。，亦古文箕。廿从一八，籀文箕。，籀文箕。”

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)

néng to be able

Original meaning: bear

Pictograph of a bear. Based on the original meaning "bear". The meaning of this character has shifted over time to mean "strong" and "ability, power". Original form of 熊.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Iconic (2)

熊罷

Sound (1)

態

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	noj	nˤə	a kind of bear
	nong	nˤə(ŋ)	a kind of bear
	nong	nˤə(ʔ) (~ *nˤəŋ)	able; ability

說文解字

《說文》：“能，熊屬，足似鹿。从肉，聲。能獸堅中，故稱賢能，而彊壯稱能傑也。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.752
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

guò, guo pass Traditional

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

Components

辶 Meaning component

chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

咼 Sound component

chat

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

撾

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kwa	Cə.kʷˤaj	tough, fibrous (vegetables)
	kwa	kʷˤaj	to pass
	kwaH	kʷˤaj-s	to pass; transgress

說文解字

度也。从辵咼聲。

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)

xiǎn make visible, clear Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 㬎 represents the sound and 頁 represents the meaning.

Components

㬎 Sound Meaning component

xiǎn visible, bright

頁 Meaning component

yè (head), page

Depicts a person whose head is emphasized.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	xenX	qʰˤenʔ	display, manifest

說文解字

《說文》：“顯，頭明飾也。从頁，聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 李学勤《字源》p.783-784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)

八 bā eight

Character Evolution

Component uses

Iconic (7 of 8 verified)

Sound (3 of 4 verified)

Distinguishing (4)

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

Unknown (1 of 2 verified)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

仙 xian, xiān Taoist super-being

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

过 guò, guo pass Simplified

Components

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

海 hǎi sea

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

各 gè each

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (7 of 27 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

显 xiǎn evident, make visible, clear Simplified

Components

Component uses

Sound (1)

Sources

其 qí its, his, (3p possessive)

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (8 of 18 verified)

Iconic (3)

Deleted (1)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

能 néng to be able

Character Evolution

Component uses

Iconic (2)

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

過 guò, guo pass Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

顯 xiǎn make visible, clear Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

bā eight

xian, xiān Taoist super-being

guò, guo pass Simplified

hǎi sea

gè each

xiǎn evident, make visible, clear Simplified

qí its, his, (3p possessive)

néng to be able

guò, guo pass Traditional

xiǎn make visible, clear Traditional