古杰拉尔
Gǔ​jié​lā'ěr

Gujral

古 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
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
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

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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkuXkˤaʔ 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)

杰 jié outstanding Simplified

Depicts a tree (木) and fire (灬). Simplified form of 傑.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
灬
灬 Meaning component
biāo, huǒ fire

灬 is a component form of 火.

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangɡrad

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

拉 lā, la pull

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 立 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

立
立 Sound component
lì stand
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

啦

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlop[r]ˤəp break

說文解字

《說文》：“拉，摧也。从手，立聲。”

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)

尔 ěr you Simplified

Simplified form of 爾. Pictograph of a weapon with a sharp head and tail decorations on the end. Similar in origin to 朿. Original meaning unclear.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 5 verified)

你弥玺迩祢

Meaning (1 of 3 verified)

你妳袮

Simplified (1)

称

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnyeXn[ə][r]ʔ you(r)

說文解字

《說文》：“尒，詞之必然也。从入、丨、八，八象气之分散。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.259董蓮池《說文解字考正》p.129
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

傑 hero Traditional

Original meaning: to be elevated

Originally written as 桀, which depicts two feet (舛) on top of a tree (木). 亻 (person) was later added to the character as a meaning component. Based on the original meaning, "to be elevated". The meaning later shifted to "outstanding person" and "hero".

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

桀
桀 SoundIconic component
jié cruel

Depicts two feet (舛) on top of a tree (木).

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartgjetN-[k]<r>at remarkable; hero

說文解字

《說文》：“傑，傲也。从人，桀聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.2404
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

爾 ěr you Traditional

Pictograph of a weapon with a sharp head and tail decorations on the end. Similar in origin to 朿. Original meaning unclear.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

邇禰璽彌

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnejXnˤ[ə][r]ʔ numerous
nyeXn[ə][r]ʔ (adv. suffix)
nyeXn[ə][r]ʔ you(r)

說文解字

《說文》：“爾，麗爾，猶靡麗也。从冂，从，其孔；尒聲。此與爽同意。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.259董蓮池《說文解字考正》p.129
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)