咨商
zī​shāng

consultation

咨 zī inquire Simplified

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

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
次
次 Sound component
cì second, next

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

谘趦諮

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

谘諮

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsij[ts]ijconsult; plan (v.)
Zhengzhangʔsli
Unicodetzi

說文解字

謀事曰咨。从口次聲。

Sources

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

商 shāng commerce, business

Origin unclear. Composed of 辛 (chisel) and 丙 (pedestal) with 口 being later added as a distinguishing component for the name of an ancient kingdom.

Components

辛
辛 Unknown component
xīn laborious

The purpose of this component is unclear.

丙
丙 Unknown component
bǐng third

The purpose of this component is unclear.

口
口 Distinguishing component
kǒu, kou mouth

This component was later added when the character was used for the name of an ancient kingdom.

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 Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
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
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 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 (0 of 2 verified)

熵墒

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsyangs-taŋ musical note
syangs-taŋ (place name)
syangs-taŋ estimate; business; trader

說文解字

《說文》：“商，从外知內也。从，章省聲。，古文商。，亦古文商。，籀文商。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫The Outlier Linguistics Dictionary of Chinese Characters中華語文知識庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

諮 consult Traditional

To discuss 言 a plan 咨; 咨 also provides the pronunciation

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
咨
咨 SoundMeaning component
zī inquire

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangʔsli

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang