Original meaning: to carve jade
Depicts a carved jade object, now written as 彫/琱. The meaning later shifted to "circumference" and "cycle". Later the 口 component was added when 周 was used to refer to a geographical region to indicate that the character was only "mouthed", i.e. used for its sound. In simplified Chinese 周 is also used to mean "week", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 週.
Components
口 Distinguishing component
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tsyuw | tiw | Zhōu (dynasty and place) |
| tsyuw | tiw | cycle; all around |
說文解字
《說文》：“周，密也。从用、口。，古文周字从古文及。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.99-100林志強《《文源》評注》p.134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)
Pictograph of a long river with a tributary.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | hjwaengX | [ɢ]ʷraŋʔ | long (time) |
說文解字
《說文》：“永，長也，象水巠理之長。《詩》曰：‘江之永矣’。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.808
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Depicts sound coming from a gong (庚).
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | khang | [kʰ]ˤaŋ | empty |
| khang | k-r̥ˤaŋ | tranquil; at ease | |
| thang | r̥ˤaŋ | name of first Shang ruler |
說文解字
《說文》：“穅，穀皮也。从禾，从米，庚聲。康，穅或省。”
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)