咸阳
Xián​yáng

Xianyang

咸 xián all

Original meaning: massacre

Depicts a massacre with a weapon (戌), based on the original meaning "massacre". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

戌
戌 Iconic component
xū, qu 11th terrestrial branch

Depicts an axe.

口
口 Distinguishing component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 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 (5 of 11 verified)

感减喊碱缄箴鹹觱堿緘減

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartheam[g]ˤr[ə]m all; everywhere

說文解字

《說文》：“咸，皆也，悉也。从口，从戌。戌，悉也。”

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)

阳 yáng light Simplified

The traditional characters 陰 (Yin) and 陽 (Yang) were simplified to 阴 and 阳. In Chinese philosophy, the moon (月) corresponds to Yin (阴) and the sun (日) corresponds to Yang (阳).

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

日
日 Simplified component
rì sun

Simplified from the traditional 陽. Used here since the sun corresponds to the 'Yang' of 'Yin and Yang' in Chinese philosophy.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

陽 yáng light Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 昜 represents the sound.

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

昜
昜 SoundMeaning component
yáng bright

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyanglaŋ bright

說文解字

高、明也。从𨸏昜聲。

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)