古董表
gǔ​dǒng​biǎo

antique watch

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)

董 dǒng, zhǒng supervise

Original meaning: type of plant

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 重 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

Change in meaning
艹 hints at the original meaning of 董, "type of plant", which is no longer the most common meaning of 董 in modern Mandarin.
重
重 Sound component
zhòng, chóng heavy

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (1)

懂

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangtoːŋʔ
Unicodedǔng

Sources

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

表 biǎo exterior surface Simplified

Depicts clothes (衣) made from fur (毛), typically the outermost layer of clothing. In simplified Chinese 表 is also used to mean "wristwatch", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 錶.

Components

毛
毛 Meaning component
máo, mao hair
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 毛 than it was in ancient scripts.
衣
衣 Meaning component
yī clothes

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
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

婊裱錶

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

裱

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjewXp(r)awʔ exterior

說文解字

《說文》：“表，上衣也。从衣，从毛‧古者衣裘，以毛為表。，古文表从麃。”

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)

錶 wristwatch Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 釒 represents the meaning and 表 represents the sound.

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal
表
表 Sound component
biǎo exterior surface

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Regular Modern

Sources

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