古今韵会举要 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

gǔ old

Original meaning: firm, solid

Depicts a shield. Based on the original meaning "firm, solid", which is now written as 固. The current meaning "old" is a phonetic loan.

Components

盾 Iconic component

dùn shield

Depicts a shield.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 盾 than it was in ancient scripts.

口 Meaning component

kǒu, kou mouth

The 口 component is sometimes used to indicate an abstract meaning taken from a concrete object. Here, the concrete object "shield" evokes the abstract meaning "firm, solid".

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (7 of 27 verified)

故苦居胡固姑估枯咕辜沽骷轱钴祜鸪蛄诂牯嘏怙岵罟酤鴣軲鈷 show all 27 show fewer

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kuX	kˤaʔ	ancient

說文解字

《說文》：“古，故也。从十口。識前言者也。，古文古。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.154
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

jīn now

Original meaning: closed mouth

Depicts a closed mouth. Upside-down 曰. The meaning "now" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kim	[k]r[ə]m	now

說文解字

《說文》：“今，是時也。从亼，从乁。乁，古文及。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.440
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

yùn rhyme Simplified

Of equal 匀 tone 音; 匀 also provides the pronunciation

Components

音 Meaning component

yīn sound

匀 Sound Meaning component

yún equal

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	hwinH	[m-qʷ]<r>i[n]-s (no pre-Qín exx.)	rhyme
Zhengzhang		ɢʷins

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart Zhengzhang Shangfang

huì, kuài to gather Simplified

Simplified form of 會. Phonosemantic compound. 合 represents the meaning and 𡆧 represents the sound.

Components

合 Meaning Simplified component

hé to join

𡆧 Sound Simplified component

guó ironware

Change in sound

会 and 𡆧 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 12 verified)

绘刽荟桧烩脍狯哙浍鲙郐𬭇

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

侩

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.442
Readings & variants: Unicode

jǔ, ju raise Simplified

Simplified form of 舉. Phonosemantic compound. 手 represents the meaning and 與 represents the sound.

Components

手 Meaning component

shǒu, shou hand

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 手 than it was in ancient scripts.

兴 Simplified component

xìng, xīng rise, flourish

Shorthand for the 與 component in the traditional character 舉.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

榉

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

yào, yāo want

Original meaning: waist

Pictograph of two hands grabbing a woman's (女) waist. The current meaning "want" is a phonetic loan. The original meaning "waist" is now written as 腰.

Components

◎ Iconic component

characterless component

Depicts two hands grabbing a waist.

Change in meaning

◎ hints at the original meaning of 要, "waist", which is no longer the most common meaning of 要 in modern Mandarin.

女 Iconic component

nǚ, nü woman

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

票腰崾

Remnant (1)

票

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	'jiewH	[q]ew(k)-s	important

說文解字

《說文》：“要，身中也，象人要自之形。从，交省聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.183
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

rhyme Traditional

Components

音 Meaning component

yīn sound

員 Sound component

yuán member

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	hwinH	[m-qʷ]<r>i[n]-s (no pre-Qín exx.)	harmony; rhyme

說文解字

《說文新附》：“韻，和也。从音，員聲。裴光遠云：‘古與均同。’未知其審。”

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

huì, kuài to gather Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 合 represents the meaning and 𡆧 represents the sound.

Components

合 Meaning component

hé to join

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 合 than it was in ancient scripts.

𡆧 Sound component

guó ironware

Change in sound

會 and 𡆧 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (2 of 11 verified)

劊癐噲膾廥檜燴繪𨭗薈鱠

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

儈廥

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	hwajH	m-kˤop-s	meeting; have a meeting
	hwajH	ɦʷˤajs (< *m-kˤop-s)	阿會亘 ēhuìxuān: Skt. ābhāsvara ‘shining’ (E. Hàn)
	kwajH	kˤop-s	calculate; calculation

說文解字

《說文》：“會，合也。从亼，从曾省。曾，益也。令，古文會如此。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.442
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

jǔ, ju raise Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 手 represents the meaning and 與 represents the sound.

Components

手 Meaning component

shǒu, shou hand

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 手 than it was in ancient scripts.

與 Sound component

yǔ, yù together with

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

櫸

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kjoX	C.q(r)aʔ	lift, raise
	kjoX	[k](r)aʔ	all

Sources

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

古 gǔ old

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (7 of 27 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

今 jīn now

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (10 of 20 verified)

Remnant (2)

Iconic (2)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

韵 yùn rhyme Simplified

Components

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

会 huì, kuài to gather Simplified

Components

Component uses

Sound (1 of 12 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

举 jǔ, ju raise Simplified

Components

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

要 yào, yāo want

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

Remnant (1)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

韻 rhyme Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

會 huì, kuài to gather Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (2 of 11 verified)

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

舉 jǔ, ju raise Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

gǔ old

jīn now

yùn rhyme Simplified

huì, kuài to gather Simplified

jǔ, ju raise Simplified

yào, yāo want

rhyme Traditional

huì, kuài to gather Traditional

jǔ, ju raise Traditional