è​lì​chuí​yà

Eritrea

è adversity, distress

Pictograph of a yoke or harness attached to a work animal, such as a horse or ox.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'eakqˤ<r>[i]k part of a yoke

說文解字

《說文》:“厄,科厄,木節也。从卪,厂聲。賈侍中說以為厄,裹也。一曰:厄,蓋也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

lì, li benefit

Depicts harvesting grain () with a blade (). Harvest was the main source of profit in agricultural societies.

Components

Iconic component
grain stalk
Iconic component
dāo knife

is a component form of .


Character Evolution

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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 11 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlijHC.ri[t]-s sharp; profit

說文解字

《說文》:“利,銛也。从刀;和然後利,从和省。《易》曰:‘利者,義之和也。’”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

chuí droop

Original meaning: borderland

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and 𠂹 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "borderland", now written as . The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

𠂹
𠂹 Sound component
chuí grass, trees, flowers, leaves
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 𠂹 than it was in ancient scripts.
Meaning component
earth
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "borderland", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 9 verified)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzywe[d]o[j] hang down

說文解字

《玉篇》:“,《說文》垂。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

Asia, sub- Simplified

Original meaning: tomb

Simplified form of . Depicts a wooden structure where coffins are placed. Based on the original meaning "tomb". The current meaning "Asia" is a phonetic loan.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

Asia, sub- Traditional

Original meaning: tomb

Depicts a wooden structure where coffins are placed. Based on the original meaning "tomb". The current meaning "Asia" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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
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

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'aeHʔˤrak-s secondary

說文解字

《說文》:“亞,醜也。象人局背之形。賈侍中說以為次弟也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica