哺乳期
bǔ​rǔ​qī

lactation

哺 bǔ chew food

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 甫 represents the sound. Simplified form of 餔.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
甫
甫 Sound component
fu begin

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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-SagartbuH[b]ˤa-sfood held in the mouth
Zhengzhangbaːs
Unicodebhò

說文解字

哺咀也。从口甫聲。

Sources

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

乳 rǔ breast, milk

Depicts a mother holding (爫) a child (子) breastfeeding it.

Components

爫
爫 Iconic component
zhǎo hand, claw

爫 is a component form of 爪. Depicts a hand.

子
子 Iconic component
zi, zǐ child
◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a mother breastfeeding.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnyuXnoʔ milk; nipple

說文解字

《說文》：“乳，人及鳥生子曰乳，獸曰產。从孚，从乙。乙者，玄鳥也。《明堂》、《月令》：‘玄鳥至之日，祠于高禖以請子。’故乳从乙。請子必以乙至之日者，乙春分來，秋分去，開生之候鳥，帝少昊司分之官也。”

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)

期 qī period of time

Phonosemantic compound. 月 represents the meaning and 其 represents the sound.

Components

月
月 Meaning component
yuè, yue moon
其
其 Sound component
qí its, his, (3p possessive)

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgi[g](r)ə period of time

說文解字

《說文》：“期，會也。从月，其聲。，古文期，从日、丌。”

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)