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
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 an axe head, used as a symbol of the king's military authority.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | hjwang | ɢʷaŋ | king |
| hjwangH | ɢʷaŋ-s | be king |
說文解字
《說文》：“王，天下所歸往也。董仲舒曰：‘古之造文者，三畫而連其中謂之王。三者，天、地、人也；而參通之者，王也。’孔子曰：‘一貫三為王。’，古文王。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.52
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: early morning
Depicts the early part of morning when the sun (日) can still be seen on the horizon between blades of grass (艸), and the moon (月) is still in the sky. Based on the original meaning "early morning". The meaning later shifted to "morning audience at court", "facing", "royal court", and "dynasty".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | drjew | m-t<r>aw | (morning) audience at court |
| trjew | t<r>aw | morning |
說文解字
《說文》：“朝，旦也。从倝，舟聲。”
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)