吕宋海峡
Lǚ​sòng Hǎi​xiá

Luzon Strait

吕 lǚ pitchpipe Simplified

Original meaning: metal plates

Depicts two metal plates.

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 Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 7 verified)

侣铝闾莒閭稆鋁

Iconic (2)

金釒

Meaning (2)

匀勻

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangɡ·raʔ

說文解字

《說文》：“呂，脊骨也。象形。昔太嶽為禹心呂之臣，故封呂侯。膂，篆文呂，从肉，从旅。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.604
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

宋 sòng Song dynasty

Original meaning: dwelling

Depicts a building (宀) made of wood (木). Based on the original meaning "dwelling". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

宀
宀 Iconic component
mián roof
木
木 Iconic component
mù tree

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 Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsowngH[s]ˤuŋ-s (place name)

說文解字

《說文》：“宋，居也。从宀，从木。”

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)

海 hǎi sea

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

每
每 Sound component
měi every
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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
Seal form
Seal Jin 266-420 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

Component uses

Sound (1)

嗨

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartxojXm̥ˤəʔ (dialect *m̥ˤ- > x-)sea

說文解字

《說文》：“海，天池也，以納百川者。从水，每聲。”

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)

峡 xiá gorge Simplified

The space between 夹 two mountains 山; 夹 also provides the pronunciation

Components

山
山 Meaning component
shān mountain
夹
夹 SoundMeaning component
jiā, jiá be wedged or inserted between, pressed from two sides

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

呂 pitchpipe Traditional

Original meaning: metal plates

Depicts two metal plates.

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 Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

予侶

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartljoX[r]aʔ spine; pitch-pipe

說文解字

《說文》：“呂，脊骨也。象形。昔太嶽為禹心呂之臣，故封呂侯。膂，篆文呂，从肉，从旅。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.604
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

峽 xiá gorge Traditional

The space between 夾 two mountains 山; 夾 also provides the pronunciation

Components

山
山 Meaning component
shān mountain
夾
夾 SoundMeaning component
jiā, jiá be wedged or inserted between, pressed from two sides

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthɛpN-kˤ<r>epmountain pass (not in GSR)
Zhengzhangɡreːb
Unicodehæp

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang