呼吸系统
hū​xī​xì​tǒng

respiratory system

呼 hū, hu breathe, shout

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 乎 represents the sound.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
乎
乎 Sound component
hu, hū interrogative or exclamatory final particle

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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-Sagartxuqʰˤa call out, shout
xuHqʰˤa-s call out, shout

說文解字

《說文》：“呼，外息也。从口，乎聲。”

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)

吸 xī inhale

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 及 represents the sound.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
及
及 Sound component
jí extend

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxipqʰ(r)əp inhale

說文解字

《說文》：“吸，內息也。从口，及聲。”

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)

系 xì, xi, jì system

Pictograph of a hand (又) holding a group of threads (糸) that are connected together (系).

Components

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 又 than it was in ancient scripts.
糸
糸 Iconic component
mì, sī silk

Depicts a group of threads.


Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (1 of 3 verified)

繇纛孫

Iconic (2)

縣係

Deleted (1)

县

Sound (1)

係

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthejH[m]-kˤek-s bind (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“系，繫也。从糸，丿聲。，系或从、處。，籀文系从爪、絲。”

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)

统 tǒng connected Simplified

Simplified form of 統. Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 充 represents the sound.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

充
充 Sound component
chōng fill

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

統 tǒng connected Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 充 represents the sound.

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

充
充 Sound component
chōng fill

Character Evolution

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 Chinese
Zhengzhangtʰuːŋs
Unicodetòng

說文解字

《說文》：“統，紀也。从糸，充聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)