Original meaning: break apart
歹 depicts a wooden post with a cracked bottom and 刂 depicts a knife. Both used to convey the original meaning "break apart". 歹 also represents the sound. The meaning later shifted to "arrange in order" and "list".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ljet | [r][e]t | tear apart; rank |
說文解字
《說文》：“列，分解也。从刀，聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.355
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Depicts clothes (衣) made from fur (毛), typically the outermost layer of clothing. In simplified Chinese 表 is also used to mean "wristwatch", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 錶.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pjewX | p(r)awʔ | exterior |
說文解字
《說文》：“表，上衣也。从衣，从毛‧古者衣裘，以毛為表。，古文表从麃。”
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)