In ancient texts the character 亖 (four horizontal strokes) was used. The current form 四 depicts breathing through the nose and is the original form of 呬. The use of 四 as a number is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | sijH | s.li[j]-s | four |
說文解字
《說文》：“四，陰數也。象四分之形。，古文四。亖，籀文四。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.948
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Sound (1)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | xojX | m̥ˤəʔ (dialect *m̥ˤ- > x-) | sea |
說文解字
《說文》：“海，天池也，以納百川者。从水，每聲。”
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)
Original meaning: go forwards
Pictograph of a foot (止) going out of an area. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tsyi | tə | go to |
| tsyi | tə | (3p object pronoun; attributive particle) |
說文解字
《說文》：“之，出也。象艸過屮，枝莖益大有所之。一者，地也。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.498-499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)
Simplified
Components
Character Evolution
Depicts people (从) moving and speaking (曰) together, conveying the meaning "all". (Oversimplified for brevity. The real story of this character is quite complicated.)
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | keaj | kˤrij | all |
說文解字
《說文》：“皆，俱詞也。从比，从白。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.289-290
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Pictograph of a mouth on top of a person, representing an older brother giving orders.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | xjwaeng | m̥raŋ | elder brother |
說文解字
《說文》：“兄，長也。从儿，从口。”
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)
Original meaning: order
Pictograph of a rope neatly wrapped around a weapon handle. Based on the original meaning "orderly". The meaning later shifted to "next in sequence" (now written as 第) and "younger brother".
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dejX | lˤəjʔ | younger brother |
說文解字
《說文》：“弟，韋束之次弟也。从古字之象。，古文弟，从古文韋省，丿聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.477-478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)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Sound (0 of 1 verified)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nop | nˤ[u]p | bring or send in |
| nwojH | nˤ[u]p-s | inside |
說文解字
《說文》：“內，入也。从口，自外而入也。”
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)