单位切向量
dān​wèi​qiē​xiàng​liàng

unit tangent vector

单 dān single Simplified

Original meaning: hunting tool

Simplified form of 單. Pictograph of a hunting tool or weapon constructed from rocks tied to a tree branch. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 14 verified)

弹禅阐蝉惮婵郸掸觯殚箪瘅冁啴

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

禅

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

蕲

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.105中華語文知識庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

位 wèi position

Depicts a person (亻) standing (立) in a specific position.

Components

亻
亻 Iconic component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

立
立 SoundIconic component
lì stand

立 also represents the sound.

Change in sound

Character Evolution

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 Shuowen ~100 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

莅

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

涖

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthwijH[ɢ]ʷrəp-s (< *ɢʷəʔ-rəp-s ?)standing, position

說文解字

《說文》：“位，列中庭之左右謂之位。从人、立。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫廣韻形聲考
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

切 qiè, qiē cut

Phonosemantic compound. 刀 represents the meaning and 七 represents the sound.

Components

七
七 Sound component
qī seven
刀
刀 Meaning component
dāo knife

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

彻窃砌沏

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

彻砌

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttshet[tsʰ]ˤi[t] cut; urgent

說文解字

《說文》：“切，刌也。从刀，七聲。”

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)

向 xiàng toward

Depicts a mouth (口) in a closed space (宀) making an echo sound. Based on the original meaning "echo; sound", now written as 響. The meaning later shifted to "direction" and "toward".

Components

宀
宀 Iconic component
mián roof
口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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

Component uses

Sound (2 of 6 verified)

响晌饷垧餉嚮

Meaning (1)

嚮

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartxjangHn̥aŋ-s window facing North; turn towards

說文解字

《說文》：“向，北出牖也。从宀，从口。”

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)

量 liàng, liang, liáng measure

Phonosemantic compound. 東 (pictograph of a bag) represents the meaning and 昜 represents the sound.

Components

昜
昜 SoundRemnant component
yáng bright

Modern form written like 旦.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 昜 than it was in ancient scripts.
東
東 IconicRemnant component
dōng east

Depicts a bag. Modern form written like 里.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 東 than it was in ancient scripts.

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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

Component uses

Sound (1)

糧

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartljang[r]aŋ measure (v.)
ljangH[r]aŋ-s measure (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“量，稱輕重也。从重省，曏省聲。，古文量。”

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)

單 dān single Traditional

Original meaning: hunting tool

Pictograph of a hunting tool or weapon constructed from rocks tied to a tree branch. The current meaning 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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 15 verified)

蟬鼉禪簞闡彈撣囅戰憚嘽嬋殫癉鄲

Iconic (2)

兽獸

Simplified (1)

兽

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

蘄

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzyendar (< *[d]ar)單于 chányú: Xiōngnú ruler (W. Hàn)
tanCə.tˤar single, simple

說文解字

《說文》：“單，大也。从吅、，吅亦聲。闕。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.105中華語文知識庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)