前端总线
qián​duān​zǒng​xiàn

front-side bus

前 qián in front

Original meaning: cut

Phonosemantic compound. 歬 represents the sound, and 刂 represents the meaning. Based on the original meaning "cut", now written as 剪. The current meaning "in front" is a phonetic loan.

Components

歬
歬 Sound component
qián go forward
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 歬 than it was in ancient scripts.
刂
刂 Meaning component
dāo knife
Change in meaning
刂 hints at the original meaning of 前, "cut", which is no longer the most common meaning of 前 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 5 verified)

箭剪煎翦湔

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzen[dz]ˤen
(~ *m-dzˤen)		before

說文解字

《說文》：“歬，不行而進謂之歬。从止在舟上。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫The Outlier Linguistics Dictionary of Chinese Characters
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

端 duān end, hold with both hands

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

Components

立
立 Meaning component
lì stand
耑
耑 Sound component
duān, zhuān tip, start, extremity

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttwantˤor tip (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“端，直也。从立，耑聲。”

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)

总 zǒng collect Simplified

Simplified form of 總. Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 悤 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bind together", since thread (糹) is used to put things together.

Components

總
糹 Deleted component
mì silk
悤
悤 SoundSimplified component
cōng agitated

Component uses

Sound (1)

聪

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

线 xiàn thread Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 戋 represents the sound. Simplified form of 線.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

戋
戋 Sound component
jiān, cán small

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

總 zǒng collect Traditional

Original meaning: bind together

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 悤 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bind together", since thread (糹) is used to put things together.

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

悤
悤 Sound component
cōng agitated

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsuwng[ts]ˤoŋ bundle of threads
tsuwngX[ts]ˤoŋ bind together

說文解字

《說文》：“總，聚束也。从糸，悤聲。”

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)

線 xiàn thread Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 泉 represents the sound.

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

泉
泉 Sound component
quán spring

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsqʰeːns
Unicodesiɛ̀n

說文解字

《說文》：“綫，縷也。从糸，戔聲。線，古文綫。”

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)