可擦除可编程只读存储器 Origin

kě able to

Original meaning: sing

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and a pictograph of an axe handle (丂) which is now written as 柯 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "sing", now written as 歌. The current meaning "able to" is a phonetic loan.

Components

口 Meaning component

kǒu, kou mouth

Change in meaning

口 hints at the original meaning of 可, "sing", which is no longer the most common meaning of 可 in modern Mandarin.

丂 Sound Iconic component

kǎo, qiǎo, yú axe handle

Depicts an axe handle.

Change in sound

可 and 丂 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
可 khaX
丂 khawX

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

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

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (6 of 20 verified)

何阿奇河哥呵柯苛珂诃轲坷舸岢疴哿蚵钶軻訶

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

珂

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khaX	[k]ʰˤa[j]ʔ	may; acceptable

說文解字

《說文》：“可，肎也。从口、丂，丂亦聲。”

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)

cā wipe

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

Components

扌 Meaning component

shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

察 Sound component

chá examine

Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	sʰlaːd

Sources

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

chú eliminate

Original meaning: stair steps

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 余 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "stair steps". The meaning later shifted to "divide", "remove", and "except".

Components

阝 Meaning component

fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

Change in meaning

阝 hints at the original meaning of 除, "stair steps", which is no longer the most common meaning of 除 in modern Mandarin.

余 Sound component

yú I

Change in sound

除 and 余 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
除 *lra-s
余 *la

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

滁

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	drjo	[l]<r>a	remove; get rid of
	drjoH	lra-s	pass away

說文解字

殿陛也。从𨸏余聲。

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)

biān knit, compile, edit Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 扁 represents the sound. Simplified form of 編.

Components

纟 Meaning component

mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

扁 Sound component

biǎn flat

Sources

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

chéng sequence

Original meaning: unit of measurement

Phonosemantic compound. 禾 represents the meaning and 呈 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "unit of measurement". The meaning later shifted to "rule", "procedure", "sequence", and "journey".

Components

禾 Meaning component

hé grain stalk

Change in meaning

禾 hints at the original meaning of 程, "unit of measurement", which is no longer the most common meaning of 程 in modern Mandarin.

呈 Sound component

chéng submit

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	drjeng	(C.)lreŋ	Chéng (a surname)
	drjeng	l<r>eŋ	rule, norm

說文解字

《說文》：“程，品也。十髮為程，十程為分，十分為寸。从禾，呈聲。”

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)

zhǐ, zhī only

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

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (4 of 9 verified)

识织职积帜炽咫枳轵

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang		klje
		kljeʔ
Unicode	jǐɛ

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
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

dú read Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 讠 represents the meaning and 𧸇 represents the sound. Simplified form of 讀.

Components

讠 Meaning component

yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

卖 Simplified component

mài, mai sell

Simplified from the 𧸇 component in the traditional character 讀.

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

cún exist, keep

Phonosemantic compound. 子 represents the meaning and 才 represents the sound.

Components

子 Meaning component

zi, zǐ child

才 Sound component

cái, cai talent

Change in sound

存 and 才 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
存 *[dz]ˤə[n]
才 *[dz]ˤə

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1)

荐

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dzwon	[dz]ˤə[n]	exist

說文解字

《說文》：“存，恤問也。从子，才聲。”

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)

chǔ save money Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 诸 represents the sound. Simplified form of 儲.

Components

亻 Meaning component

rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

诸 Sound component

zhū several

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

qì receptacle

Origin unclear.

Components

㗊 Unknown component

jí, léi clamour, noise

犬 Unknown component

quǎn dog

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khijH	[kʰ]r[ə][t]-s	vessel; instrument

說文解字

《說文》：“器，皿也。象器之口，犬所以守之。”

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)

biān knit, compile, edit Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 扁 represents the sound.

Components

糹 Meaning component

mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

扁 Sound component

biǎn flat

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	pen	pˤe[r]	plait, weave
	pjien	pe[r] (~ *mə-pe[r] in donor to HM)	plait, weave

說文解字

《說文》：“編，次簡也。从糸，扁聲。”

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)

dú read Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 𧸇 represents the sound.

Components

言 Meaning component

yán speech

𧸇 Sound component

yù to sell

The original sound component 𧸇 was later corrupted to the visually and semantically similar character 賣.

Change in sound

讀 and 𧸇 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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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	duwk	C.lˤok	read (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“讀，誦書也。从言，賣聲。”

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)

chǔ save money Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 諸 represents the sound.

Components

亻 Meaning component

rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

諸 Sound component

zhū several

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang		da
Unicode	djhiu

說文解字

偫也。从人諸聲。

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

可 kě able to

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (6 of 20 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

擦 cā wipe

Components

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

除 chú eliminate

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

编 biān knit, compile, edit Simplified

Components

Sources

程 chéng sequence

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

只 zhǐ, zhī only

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (4 of 9 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

读 dú read Simplified

Components

Sources

存 cún exist, keep

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

储 chǔ save money Simplified

Components

Sources

器 qì receptacle

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

編 biān knit, compile, edit Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

讀 dú read Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

儲 chǔ save money Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

kě able to

cā wipe

chú eliminate

biān knit, compile, edit Simplified

chéng sequence

zhǐ, zhī only

dú read Simplified

cún exist, keep

chǔ save money Simplified

qì receptacle

biān knit, compile, edit Traditional

dú read Traditional

chǔ save money Traditional