卷笔刀
juǎn​bǐ​dāo

pencil sharpener

卷 juǎn, juàn curl, roll

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

Components

龹
龹 Sound component
juǎn to roll rice into a ball
卩
卩 Meaning component
jié person kneeling

Depicts a person with bent knees.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 9 verified)

圈倦蜷绻鬈锩綣惓捲

Meaning (2 of 5 verified)

圈倦蜷鬈捲

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkjwenX[k](r)o[n]ʔ roll (v.)
gjwen[g]ʷren handsome

說文解字

《說文》：“卷，厀曲也。从卪，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)

笔 bǐ writing utensil Simplified

Simplified form of 筆. Depicts a utensil for writing (聿) made from bamboo (⺮).

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

毛
毛 MeaningSimplified component
máo, mao hair

Shorthand for the 聿 component in the traditional character 筆.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

滗

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

刀 dāo knife

Pictograph of a knife.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (12)

方分解绝初亡勿刃絕叚𢇍刅

Meaning (3 of 5 verified)

切券剪劈㓞

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

召叨忉

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttawC.tˤaw knife

說文解字

《說文》：“刀，兵也。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.352
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

筆 bǐ writing utensil Traditional

Depicts a utensil for writing (聿) made from bamboo (⺮).

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

聿
聿 Meaning component
yù writing brush

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpitp.[r]ut (borrowed as *prut from Qín dialect)writing brush

說文解字

《說文》：“筆，秦謂之筆。从聿，从竹。”

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)