Original meaning: earthen jar
Pictograph of a earthen jar for holding liquid, now written as 瓮. The current meaning "public" is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kuwng | C.qˤoŋ | impartial, just; public |
| kuwng | C.qˤoŋ | father; prince |
說文解字
《說文》：“公，平分也。从八、从厶。八，猶背也。韓非曰：‘背厶為公’。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.86-87
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: to strike
Depicts using a staff (丂) for striking. Based on the original meaning "to strike", now written as 抨. The meaning later shifted to "level", "even", and "flat".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | bjien | [b]en | distinguish; punctiious |
| bjaeng | breŋ | even (adj.) | |
| bjaeng | m-breŋ | make even |
說文解字
《說文》：“平，語平舒也。从亏，从八。八，分也。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 王森《甲骨文、金文所谓“乎”字当释为“平”字》
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Depicts two mouths talking to each other.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kop | kˤop | together; put together; combined |
| hop | m-kˤop | come together; bring together |
說文解字
《說文》：“合，合口也。从亼，从口。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.438
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: cut jade
Phonosemantic compound. 𤣩 represents the meaning and 里 represents the sound.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | liX | m(ə).rəʔ | cut jade; regulate |
| liX | m(ə).rəʔ | reason; principle |
說文解字
《說文》：“理，治玉也。从玉，里聲。”
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)