前锯肌
qián​jù​jī

serratus anterior

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)

锯 jù a saw Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 居 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鋸.

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

居
居 Sound component
jū live

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

肌 jī muscle tissue

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

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

几
几 Sound component
jǐ, jī small table

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkijkrə[j]flesh
Zhengzhangkril
Unicodegyi

說文解字

肉也。从肉几聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

鋸 jù a saw Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 釒 represents the meaning and 居 represents the sound.

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal

釒 is a component form of 金.

居
居 Sound component
jū live

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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-SagartkjoHk(r)a-ssaw (n.)
Zhengzhangkas

說文解字

槍唐也。从金居聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)