占星学 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

zhānxīngxué

astrology

zhàn divine

In ancient China fortune-tellers analyzed cracks (卜) and holes (口) in shells and bones for the purpose of divination.

Components

卜 Iconic component

bo fortune telling

Depicts a crack.

口 Iconic component

kǒu, kou mouth

Depicts a hole.

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

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

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 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (9 of 25 verified)

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Meaning (0 of 5 verified)

拈乩觇呫覘

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)

xīng a star

Phonosemantic compound. 日 represents the meaning and 生 represents the sound.

Components

日 Meaning component

rì sun

生 Sound component

shēng, sheng life

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze ~1200 - 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

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

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

醒猩腥惺戥

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	seng	s-tsʰˤeŋ	star

說文解字

《說文》：“曐，萬物之精，上為列星。从晶，生聲。一曰象形，从口，古口復注中，故與日同。，古文星。星，曐或省。”

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)

xué learning Simplified

Simplified form of 學. Depicts two hands (𦥑) teaching a child (子) under a roof (宀). 爻 represents the sound.

Components

◎ Simplified component

characterless component

Shorthand for the 𦥑 and 爻 components in the traditional character 學.

宀 Iconic component

mián roof

子 Iconic component

zi, zǐ child

Component uses

Sound (1)

Remnant (1)

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

xué learning Traditional

Depicts two hands (𦥑) teaching a child (子) under a roof (宀). 爻 represents the sound.

Components

𦥑 Iconic component

jú, jǔ, póu two hands

Depicts two hands.

爻 Sound component

yáo, xiào diagrams for divination

Change in sound

學 and 爻 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
學 haewk
爻 haew

宀 Iconic component

mián roof

Depicts a roof.

子 Iconic component

zi, zǐ child

Depicts a child.

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	haewk	m-kˤruk	study; imitate

說文解字

《說文》：“斆，覺悟也。从教，从冖，冖，尚矇也，臼聲。學，篆文斅省。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.247-248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)