dōng​yīn

tom yum

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

yìn shade Simplified

Shade  provided by a tree also provides the pronunciation

Components

Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass
SoundMeaning component
yīn dark

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

shade Traditional

Shade  provided by a tree also provides the pronunciation

Components

Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass
SoundMeaning component
yīn dark

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'imHmə-q<r>[u]m-s shade

說文解字

《說文》:“蔭,艸陰地。从艸,陰聲。”

Sources

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