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
Component uses
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)
Simplified
Original meaning: city road
Simplified form of 術. Phonosemantic compound. 行 represents the meaning and 朮 represents the sound. The traditional component 行 was removed for simplification. Based on the original meaning "city road". The meaning later shifted to "way", "method", "technique", and "skill".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
說文解字
《說文》：“秫，稷之黏者。从禾、术，象形。术，秫或省禾。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Original meaning: city road
Phonosemantic compound. 行 represents the meaning and 朮 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "city road". The meaning later shifted to "way", "method", "technique", and "skill".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | zywit | Cə-lut | technique |
說文解字
《說文》：“術，邑中道也。从行，术聲。”
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)