吹灯拔蜡
chuī​dēng​bá​là

die

吹 chuī blow

Depicts blowing out air (欠) with the mouth (口).

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
欠
欠 Meaning component
qiàn, qian yawn, deficient

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyhwetʰo[r] blow (v.)
tsyhweHtʰo[r]-s musical concert

說文解字

《說文》：“吹，噓也。从口，从欠。”

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)

灯 dēng lantern Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 火 represents the meaning and 丁 represents the sound. Simplified form of 燈.

Components

火
火 Meaning component
huǒ fire
丁
丁 Sound component
dīng cubes

Sources

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

拔 bá, ba pull up

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

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

hand

犮
犮 Sound component
bá, quǎn pull up

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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

菝

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbeatbˤ<r>ot uproot
bajHbˤot-s thinned out (forest)

說文解字

《說文》：“拔，擢也。从手，犮聲。”

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)

蜡 là wax Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 虫 represents the meaning and 昔 represents the sound. Simplified form of 蠟.

Components

虫
虫 Meaning component
chóng bug, insect
昔
昔 Sound component
xī, cuò in the past, ancient times

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangzraːɡs
sʰaːɡs

說文解字

蠅䏣也。《周禮》：“蜡氏掌除骴。”从虫昔聲。

Sources

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

燈 dēng lantern Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 火 represents the meaning and 登 represents the sound.

Components

火
火 Meaning component
huǒ fire
登
登 Sound component
dēng rise

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttongk-tˤəŋ lamp

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

蠟 là wax Traditional

Components

虫
虫 Meaning component
chóng bug, insect

insect

巤
巤 Sound component
liè whiskers

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlapk.rˤap (no pre-Qín exx.)wax
Zhengzhangraːb
Unicodelɑp

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang