Original meaning: back
Pictograph of two people standing back-to-back. Based on the original meaning "back", now written as 背. The current meaning "north" is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pok | pˤək | north |
說文解字
《說文》：“北，也。从二人相背。”
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)
Original meaning: sprout
Depicts a recently germinated plant. Based on the original meaning "sprout". The meaning later expanded to "gather", "guard", "station", and "village".
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dwon | [d]ˤun | accumulate |
| trwin | trun | difficult |
說文解字
《說文》：“屯，難也。象艸木之初生，屯然而難。从中貫一，一，地也。尾曲。《易》曰：‘屯，剛柔始交而難生’。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.65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)