dōng​lìng

winter

dōng winter

Original meaning: tip, extremity

Depicts a rope with knots at both ends. Originally written as 𠂂. Based on the original meaning "tip, extremity", now written as . The meaning later shifted to "winter" (the final season of the year), in which the (ice) component was then added to reinforce the meaning.

Components

𠂂
𠂂 SoundIconic component
zhōng tip, extremity

Depicts a rope with knots at both ends. Modern form looks like unrelated .

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 𠂂 than it was in ancient scripts.
Meaning component
bīng ice

is a component form of .

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (3 of 9 verified)

Iconic (2)

Simplified (1)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttowngtˤuŋ winter

說文解字

《說文》:“冬,四時盡也。从仌,从夂。夂,古文終字。,古文冬从日。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫徐中舒《甲骨文字典》p.1239中華語文知識庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

lìng command

Depicts a person () receiving commands from a mouth () above them.

Components

Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth
Iconic component
jié person kneeling

Character Evolution

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartleng[r]ˤiŋ 脊令 tsjek.leng (a kind of water bird)
ljengriŋ send (a person)
ljengHriŋ-s issue a command

說文解字

《說文》:“令,發號也。从亼、卪。”

Sources

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