Original meaning: musical instrument
Depicts a bell-shaped musical instrument. The current meaning of 南 is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nom | nˤ[ə]m | south |
說文解字
《說文》：“南，艸木至南方有枝任也。从，聲。，古文。”
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: 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)
Simplified
Original meaning: fence surrounding a well
Phonosemantic compound. 韦 represents the meaning and 倝 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "fence surrounding a well". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Historical Pronunciations
說文解字
井垣也。从韋，取其帀也。幹聲。又國名。
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Original meaning: fence surrounding a well
Phonosemantic compound. 韋 represents the meaning and 倝 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "fence surrounding a well". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | han | [g]ˤar | (state in the Korean peninsula; Three Kingdoms period) |
說文解字
《說文》：“，井垣也。从韋，取其帀也，倝聲。”
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)