In ancient China fortune-tellers analyzed cracks (卜) and holes (口) in shells and bones for the purpose of divination.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tsyem | tem | prognosticate |
說文解字
《說文》：“占，視兆問也。从卜，从口。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.249-250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)
Pictograph of a crack on a bone. In ancient China such cracks were used for fortune-telling.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | puwk | pˤok | divine (v.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“卜，灼剥龜也。象灸龜之形。一曰象龜兆之從橫也。，古文卜。”
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)