吃喝拉撒睡
chī​hē​lā​sā​shuì

bodily functions

吃 chī eat

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 乞 represents the sound.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
乞
乞 Sound component
qǐ, qì beg

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkɯd

說文解字

《說文》：“吃，言蹇難也。从口，气聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

喝 hē, he, hè drink

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 曷 represents the sound.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
曷
曷 Sound component
hé, è, hè why? what? where?

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangqraːds
qʰoːb
qʰaːd
Unicodexɑt

說文解字

《說文》：“喝，也。从口，曷聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

拉 lā, la pull

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

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

立
立 Sound component
lì stand
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

啦

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlop[r]ˤəp break

說文解字

《說文》：“拉，摧也。从手，立聲。”

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)

撒 sā, sǎ release, scatter

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

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

散
散 SoundMeaning component
sàn, sǎn scatter

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsaːd
Unicodesɑt

Sources

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

睡 shuì sleep

Phonosemantic compound. 目 represents the meaning and 垂 represents the sound.

Components

目
目 Meaning component
mù eye
垂
垂 Sound component
chuí droop

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzyweH[d]o[j]-s doze off

說文解字

坐寐也。从目、垂。

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)