叶江川 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

Yè Jiāngchuān

Ye Jiangchuan

yè be in harmony, leaf Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 十 represents the sound. Originally a variant of 協 (cooperate). Later used as the simplified form of the phonetically similar character 葉 (leaf).

Components

口 Meaning component

kǒu, kou mouth

Based on the meaning "cooperate", "be in harmony". Unrelated to "leaf".

十 Sound component

shí ten

Change in sound

叶 and 十 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
叶 *l[a]p
十 *t.[g]əp

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin: Wiktionary
Readings & variants: Unicode

jiāng large river

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 工 represents the sound.

Components

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

工 Sound component

gōng work

Change in sound

江 and 工 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
江 *kˤroŋ
工 *kˤoŋ

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC

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

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kaewng	kˤroŋ	(Yangzi) river

說文解字

《說文》：“江，水。出蜀湔氐徼外崏山，入海。从水，工聲。”

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)

chuān stream

Pictograph of a river.

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 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

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Component uses

Sound (4 of 10 verified)

顺训圳驯氚钏訓順馴釧

Meaning (1 of 4 verified)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsyhwen	t.l̥u[n] (MC -jwen is irregular)	stream, river

說文解字

《說文》：“川，貫穿通流水也。《虞書》曰：‘濬巜距川’，言深巜之水會為川也。”

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)

yè leaf Traditional

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

Components

艹 Meaning component

cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

枼 Sound Meaning component

yè leaf

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	yep	l[a]p	leaf

說文解字

《說文》：“葉，艸木之葉也。从艸，枼聲。”

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)