zhǐ​pà

afraid

zhǐ, zhī only

Origin unclear. In simplified Chinese, in addition to the meaning "only", is also used as a measure word. In traditional Chinese this meaning is written as .

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (4 of 9 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangklje
kljeʔ
Unicodejǐɛ

說文解字

《說文》:“只,語已詞也。从口,象氣下引之形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.149-150
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

to fear

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
xin, xīn heart

is a component form of .

Sound component
bái, bai white
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangpʰraːɡs
pʰraːɡ
Unicode

說文解字

《說文》:“怕,無為也。从心,白聲。”

Sources

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