pēn​qì​shì

jet-propelled

pēn spurt Simplified

Components

Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth

mouth

Sound component
bēn, bì, fén forge ahead

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

qì, qi air Simplified

Depicts a gust of air.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (4 of 23 verified)

Sound (4)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhj+jHC.qʰəp-s (inhaled thing:) breath, air, vapors

說文解字

《說文》:“气,雲气也。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.58-59漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

shì, shi style

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
gōng work
Sound component
to shoot
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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
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 (2 of 7 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsyikl̥ək pattern
syikl̥ək to wipe

說文解字

《說文》:“式,法也。从工,弋聲。”

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

qì, qi air Traditional

Original meaning: gift of grain

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "gift of grain", now written as . The current meaning "air" is a phonetic loan.

Components

Meaning component
rice
SoundIconic component
qì, qi air

Depicts a gust of air.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 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

Component uses

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhj+jHC.qʰəp-s cloudy vapors
xj+jHqʰət-s to present food

說文解字

《說文》:“氣,饋客芻米也。从米,气聲。《春秋傳》曰:‘齊人來氣諸矦。’,氣或从既;餼,氣或从食。”

Sources

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