吐鲁番盆地
Tǔ​lǔ​fān Pén​dì

Turpan Depression

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)

鲁 lǔ, lǚ foolish, rude Simplified

Original meaning: tasty

Simplified form of 魯. Depicts a fish (魚) inside the mouth (甘). Based on the original meaning "tasty". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

鱼
鱼 SoundIconic component
yú fish
甘
甘 Iconic component
gān sweetness

Depicts something inside the mouth.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

噜撸橹氇镥

Sources

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

番 fān to take turns

Original meaning: animal's paw

Depicts an animal's claw (釆) with their paw shown. 釆 also represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "animal's paw", now written as 蹯. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

釆
釆 SoundIconic component
biàn, biǎn distinguish

Used here to depict an animal's claw.

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts an animal's paw. Modern form looks like unrelated 田.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 10 verified)

翻播潘幡蕃蟠燔鄱皤蹯

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

燔

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpapˤar martial
phjonpʰar a turn, a time

說文解字

《說文》：“番，獸足謂之番。从采，田象其掌。番或从足、从煩。，古文番。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.89
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

盆 pén basin

Phonosemantic compound. 皿 represents the meaning and 分 represents the sound.

Components

皿
皿 Meaning component
mǐn, mǐng dish
分
分 Sound component
fēn, fèn, fen divide

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

湓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbwon[b]ˤə[n]bowl, basin
Zhengzhangbɯːn

說文解字

盎也。从皿分聲。

Sources

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

地 de, dì earth

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

Components

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth
也
也 Sound component
yě also
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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
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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdijH[l]ˤej-s earth, ground

說文解字

《說文》：“地，元气初分，輕、清、陽為天；重、濁、陰為地。萬物所陳列也。从土，也聲。墬，籀文地从。”

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)

魯 foolish, rude Traditional

Original meaning: tasty

Depicts a fish (魚) inside the mouth (甘). Based on the original meaning "tasty". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

魚
魚 SoundIconic component
yú fish
甘
甘 Iconic component
gān sweetness

Depicts something inside the mouth.


Character Evolution

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

擼櫓嚕

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartluX[r]ˤaʔ dull, blunt, simple
luXr.ŋˤaʔ (dialect > *rŋˤ- > *rˤ- > MC l-)(place name)

說文解字

《說文》：“魯，鈍詞也。从白，鮺省聲。《論語》曰：‘參也魯。’”

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)