凯迪拉克 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

Kǎidílākè

Cadillac

kǎi victorious Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 岂 represents the meaning and 几 represents the sound. Simplified form of 凱.

Components

岂 Sound Meaning component

qǐ victorious music, happy

几 Sound component

jǐ, jī small table

Change in sound

凯 and 几 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
凯 *C.qʰˤəjʔ
几 *C.kr[ə]jʔ

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin: 李学勤《字源》p.430
Readings & variants: Unicode

dí enlighten

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

Components

辶 Meaning component

chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

由 Sound component

yóu cause

Change in sound

迪 and 由 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
迪 l'ɯːwɢ
由 *l[u]

Character Evolution

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

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	l'ɯːwɢ

說文解字

《說文》：“迪，道也。从辵，由聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

lā, la pull

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 立 represents the sound.

Components

扌 Meaning component

shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

立 Sound component

lì stand

Change in sound

拉 and 立 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
拉 lop
立 lip

Character Evolution

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	lop	[r]ˤəp	break

說文解字

《說文》：“拉，摧也。从手，立聲。”

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)

kè subdue

Pictograph of a person (人) carrying a heavy weight on their back.

Components

◎ Iconic component

characterless component

Depicts a heavy load being carried on the back.

人 Iconic component

rén, ren person

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

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

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

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

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 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

Clerical form — Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khok	kʰˤək	carry; able; dominate

說文解字

《說文》：“克，肩也。象屋下刻木之形。，古文克。，亦古文克。”

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)

victorious Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 豈 represents the meaning and 几 represents the sound.

Components

豈 Sound Meaning component

qǐ victorious music, happy

几 Sound component

jǐ, jī small table

Change in sound

凱 and 几 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
凱 *C.qʰˤəjʔ
几 *C.kr[ə]jʔ

Character Evolution

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

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khojX	C.qʰˤəjʔ	pleasant

Sources

Character origin: 李学勤《字源》p.430
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica