zhì​zào​yè​zhě

manufacturer

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

zào construct

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
chuò walk

is a component form of .

Sound component
gào tell

Originally this component was a pictograph of grass, similar to , but later was reanalyzed as the visually similar .

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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 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 Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzawX[dzˤ]uʔ make
tshawH(mə-)tsʰˤuʔ-s go to

說文解字

就也。从辵告聲。譚長說:造,上士也。

Sources

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

profession Simplified

Original meaning: attack

Simplified character from the top 5 strokes of the traditional . Depicts a person () carrying a weapon (). Based on the original meaning "attack". The meaning later shifted to "expand territory" and "develop business".

Components

zhuó chisel

Shorthand for the component. Depicts a chisel-shaped weapon.

Deleted component
dà, dài big

Depicts a person.

Component uses

Simplified (2)

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.168-169Chinese Language Stack Exchange
Readings & variants
Unicode

zhě one who...

Original meaning: paper mulberry

Pictograph of a tree with paper mulberry leaves, now written as . The distinguishing mark was added later. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a tree with paper mulberry leaves. Original form of .

kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 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 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Simplified (1)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyaeXtAʔ (nominalizing particle)

說文解字

《說文》:“者,別事詞也。从白,聲。,古文旅字。”

Sources

Character origin
林志強《《文源》評注》p.524-525李学勤《字源》p.290
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

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

profession Traditional

Original meaning: attack

Depicts a person () carrying a weapon (). Based on the original meaning "attack". The meaning later shifted to "expand territory" and "develop business".

Components

Iconic component
zhuó chisel

Depicts a chisel-shaped weapon.

Iconic component
dà, dài big

Depicts a person.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngjaep[m-qʰ](r)[a]p work (n.)
ngjaep[m-qʰ](r)[a]p horizontal board of a bell stand or frame
ngjaep[ŋ](r)[a]p strong, sturdy

說文解字

《說文》:“業,大版也,所以飾縣鍾鼓,捷業如鋸齒,以白畫之,象其鉏鋙相承也。从丵,从巾,巾象版。《詩》曰:‘巨業維樅。’,古文業。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.168-169Chinese Stack Exchange
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica