zài​zhì​yán

refined salt

zài again

Depicts catching two () fish at once, conveying the meaning "again". The fish component is similar to the bottom half of .

Components

Meaning component
èr two
Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a fish. Similar to .

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsojH[ts]ˤə(ʔ)-s twice; a second time

說文解字

《說文》:“再,一舉而二也。从冓省。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.315-316Wiktionary
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

zhì control Simplified

Original meaning: break

Depicts cutting down a tree () with a knife (). Based on the original meaning "break". The meaning later shifted to "control".

Components

Iconic component
wèi not yet

Depicts a tree.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Iconic component
dāo knife

is a component form of .


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyejHtet-s cut out, prepare

說文解字

《說文》:“制,裁也。从刀,从未。未,物成,有滋味,可裁斷。一曰止也。,古文制如此。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.357漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

yán salt Simplified

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the sound and represents the meaning.

Components

jiān watch carefully

Shorthand for the sound component in the traditional character .

Simplified component
bo fortune telling

Shorthand for the meaning component in the traditional character .

Sources

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

manufacture Traditional

Original meaning: to cut

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
zhì control
Meaning component
clothes

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyejHtet-s cut out (a garment)

說文解字

《說文》:“製,裁也。从衣,从制。”

Sources

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

yán salt Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the sound and represents the meaning.

Components

Sound component
jiān watch carefully
Meaning component
salt

salt

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyem[ɢr][o]m salt (n.)
yemH[ɢr][o]m-s salt (v.)

說文解字

《說文》:“鹽,鹹也。从鹵,監聲。古者宿沙初作煮海鹽。”

Sources

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