Simplified
Original meaning: type of bird
Phonosemantic compound. 隹 represents the meaning and 户 represents the sound. Originally was the name of a type of bird. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kuH | [C.q]ʷˤa(ʔ)-s | to hire |
說文解字
《說文》：“雇，九雇，農桑候鳥，扈民不婬者也。从隹，戶聲。春雇鳻盾，夏雇竊玄，秋雇竊藍，冬雇竊黃，棘雇竊丹，行雇唶唶，宵雇嘖嘖，桑雇竊脂，老雇鷃也。，雇或从雩，，籀文雇，从鳥。”
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)
Traditional
Depicts the hard work of sewing clothes (衣) with only firelight (炏). Later the 力 (strength, power) component was added.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | law | [r]ˤaw | toil |
| lawH | [r]ˤaw-s | to reward for toil |
說文解字
《說文》：“勞，劇也。从力，熒省。熒火燒冂，用力者勞。，古文勞从悉。”
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)