南十字座
Nán​shí​zì​zuò

Southern Cross

南 nán south

Original meaning: musical instrument

Depicts a bell-shaped musical instrument. The current meaning of 南 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
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 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

喃楠罱蝻腩

Simplified (1)

献

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnomnˤ[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)

十 shí ten

A single vertical line, representing one set of ten. Analagous to the archaic characters 廿 (twenty) and 卅 (thirty). Possibly originally a picture of a needle, now written as 針.

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 Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (6)

协叶针汁針協

Meaning (4 of 5 verified)

什计丈赍計

Unknown (0 of 2 verified)

鸨鴇

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzyipt.[g]əp ten

說文解字

《說文》：“十，數之具也。一為東西，丨為南北，則四方中央備矣。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.155
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

字 zì, zi letter

Original meaning: raise up children

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 子 represents the sound. The 宀 (roof) component is based on the original meaning "raise up children". The meaning later shifted to "educate", "word", and "writing".

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof
Change in meaning
宀 hints at the original meaning of 字, "raise up children", which is no longer the most common meaning of 字 in modern Mandarin.
子
子 SoundMeaning component
zi, zǐ child
Change in meaning
子 hints at the original meaning of 字, "raise up children", which is no longer the most common meaning of 字 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

牸

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdziHmə-dzə(ʔ)-s breed, love (v.); character

說文解字

《說文》：“字，乳也。从子在宀下，子亦聲。”

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)

座 zuò seat

Phonosemantic compound. 广 represents the meaning and 坐 represents the sound.

Components

广
广 Meaning component
guǎng roof
坐
坐 SoundMeaning component
zuò sit

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzwaH[dz]ˤo[j]ʔ-s seat n.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica