古腾堡计划
Gǔ​téng​bǎo Jì​huà

Project Gutenberg

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)

腾 téng, teng fly Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 马 represents the meaning and 朕 represents the sound. Simplified form of 騰.

Components

马
马 Meaning component
mǎ horse
朕
朕 Sound component
zhèn pronoun 'I'

Sources

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

堡 bǎo fortress

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 保 represents the sound.

Components

保
保 SoundMeaning component
bǎo protect

保 also serves as a meaning component.

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpuːʔ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

计 jì, ji calculate Simplified

Depicts saying (言) numbers (十) to count or calculate.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

十
十 Meaning component
shí ten

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

划 huà, huá row, paddle Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 戈 represents the sound. In simplified Chinese 划 is also used to mean "cut, delimit, draw", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 劃.

Components

戈
戈 Sound component
gē spear
Change in sound
刂
刂 Meaning component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthwaeC.[g]ʷˤraj (?)row (v.)

Sources

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

騰 téng, teng fly Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 馬 represents the meaning and 朕 represents the sound.

Components

朕
朕 Sound component
zhèn pronoun 'I'
馬
馬 Meaning component
mǎ horse

Character Evolution

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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdonglˤəŋ to mount; oppress

說文解字

《說文》：“騰，傳也。从馬，朕聲。一曰：騰，犗馬也。”

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)

計 jì, ji calculate Traditional

Depicts saying (言) numbers (十) to count or calculate.

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
十
十 Meaning component
shí ten

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkejHkˤij-s calculate

說文解字

《說文》：“計，會也，筭也。从言，从十。”

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)

劃 cut, delimit, draw Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 畫 represents the sound.

Components

畫
畫 SoundMeaning component
huà a painting
刂
刂 Meaning component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthweakgʷˤrek draw (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“劃，錐刀曰劃。从刀，从畫，畫亦聲。”

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)