危在旦夕
wēi​zài​dàn​xī

imminent peril

危 wēi dangerous

Phonosemantic compound. 卩 represents the meaning and 厃 represents the sound.

Components

厃
厃 SoundIconic component
zhān, wěi high and dangerous, look upward

Depicts a person (人) standing precariously on the edge of a cliff (厂).

卩
卩 Meaning component
jié person kneeling

Character Evolution

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

跪诡桅詭

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

脆臲

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngjwe[ŋ](r)[o]j in danger

說文解字

《說文》：“危，在高而懼也。从厃，自卪止之。”

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)

在 zài be at

Composed of 才 and 士, which both represent the sound.

Components

才
才 Sound component
cái, cai talent
士
士 Sound component
shì, shi scholar, soldier

Modern form looks like 土, but is unrelated.

Change in sound

Character Evolution

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 Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
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 1 verified)

茬

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzojX[dz]ˤəʔ be at, be present

說文解字

《說文》：“在，存也。从土，才聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.908
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

旦 dàn dawn

Depicts the sun (日) rising above the horizon (一) at dawn. In the oracle bone script the bottom component was the phonetic 丁, which was later reanalyzed as the earth or a horizon.

Components

日
日 Iconic component
rì sun
一
一 Iconic component
yī one

Depicts the horizon.


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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 12 verified)

但担坦胆袒靼疸妲笪怛钽亶

Meaning (3 of 4 verified)

昼暨倝𠦝

Unknown (2 of 3 verified)

是鼂昰

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttanHtˤan-s dawn

說文解字

《說文》：“旦，明也。从日見一上。一，地也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.539
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

夕 xī evening

Pictograph of the moon. Used to express "evening" or "night".

Character Evolution

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 Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (3 of 7 verified)

夜梦汐飧夤穸夢

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

汐矽穸

Iconic (2)

名夙

Simplified (2)

罗岁

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

拶

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartzjeks-ɢAk evening, night

說文解字

《說文》：“夕，莫也。从月半見。”

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)