北极鸥
běi​jí'ōu

glaucous gull

北 běi north

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

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
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 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 (1 of 2 verified)

背邶

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

背冀

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpokpˤək 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)

极 jí extreme Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 及 represents the sound. Simplified form of 極.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
及
及 Sound component
jí extend

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangɡrab
ɡab

說文解字

《說文》：“极，驢上負也。从木，及聲。或讀若急。”

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)

鸥 ōu seagull Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鸟 represents the meaning and 区 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鷗.

Components

鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird
区
区 Sound component
qū area

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

極 jí extreme Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 亟 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
亟
亟 Sound component
jí, qì urgently

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgik[g](r)ək extreme

說文解字

棟也。从木亟聲。

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)

鷗 ōu seagull Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 區 represents the sound.

Components

鳥
鳥 Meaning component
niǎo bird
區
區 Sound component
qū area

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangqoː
Unicodeqou

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica