吐丝自缚
tǔ​sī​zì​fù

self-entrapment

吐 tǔ, tù vomit

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

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
土
土 Sound component
tǔ earth

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartthuXtʰˤaʔeject from mouth, spit
thuHtʰˤaʔ-svomit
Zhengzhangl̥ʰaːʔ
l̥ʰaːs
Unicodetǒ

說文解字

寫也。从口土聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

丝 sī silk, threads Simplified

Simplified form of 絲. Duplication of 纟 (silk).

Components

纟
纟 Iconic component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

纟
纟 Iconic component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

咝鸶

Iconic (1)

㡭

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

自 zì (nose), self

Original meaning: nose

Pictograph of a nose. Original form of 鼻 (nose). In China, when people point to themselves, they typically point to their nose.

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
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (5)

息鼻牵牽𰄩

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

瘪憩洎邊癟

Meaning (3 of 4 verified)

咱臭戛辠

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzijHs.[b]i[t]-s self (adv.)
dzijHs.[b]i[t]-s to follow; from

說文解字

《說文》：“自，鼻也。象鼻形。，古文自。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.272
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

缚 fù to tie Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 尃 represents the sound. Simplified form of 縛.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

尃
尃 Sound component
fū, bù, fǔ state, announce

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

絲 sī silk, threads Traditional

Duplication of 糸 (silk).

Components

糹
糹 Iconic component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

糸
糸 Iconic component
mì, sī silk

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (1)

䜌

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsi[s]ə silk

說文解字

《說文》：“絲，蠶所吐也。从二糸。”

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)

縛 fù to tie Traditional

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

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

尃
尃 Sound component
fū, bù, fǔ state, announce

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjakbakbind (v.)
Zhengzhangbaːɡs
baɡ
Unicodebhiɑk

說文解字

束也。从糸尃聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)