pēn​mò

inkjet

pēn spurt Simplified

Components

Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth

mouth

Sound component
bēn, bì, fén forge ahead

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

ink

Original meaning: tattoo the face for a crime committed

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Originally written as , which depicts a person whose face has been tattooed.

Components

SoundIconic component
hēi black

Depicts a person whose face has been tattooed.

Change in sound
Meaning component
earth

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmokC.mˤək ink

說文解字

《說文》:“墨,書墨也。从土,从黑,黑亦聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

pēn spurt Traditional

Components

Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth

mouth

Sound component
forge ahead

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangpʰɯːn
pʰɯːns
pɯns
Unicodepən

說文解字

吒也。从口賁聲。一曰鼓鼻。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica