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)
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dijH | [l]ˤej-s | earth, ground |
說文解字
《說文》：“地，元气初分，輕、清、陽為天；重、濁、陰為地。萬物所陳列也。从土，也聲。墬，籀文地从。”
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
Character Evolution
Component uses
說文解字
《說文》：“儿，仁人也。古文奇字人也。象形。孔子曰：在人下，故詰屈。”
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Pictograph of a child (人) with an opening in the top of its head (囟). Represents the soft spot (fontanel) at the top of young infant heads. The 囟 component is written like 臼.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nye | ŋe | child |
說文解字
《說文》：“兒，孺子也。从儿，象小兒頭囟未合。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.687
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)