Original meaning: doorway, threshold
Depicts a wooden (木) door frame (囗). Based on the original meaning "doorway, threshold". The meaning later expanded to "obstruct" and "trap".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | khwonH | kʰˤu[n]-s | obstruct; distress |
說文解字
《說文》：“困，故廬也。从木在囗中。，古文困。”
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)
Simplified
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Sound (0 of 1 verified)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dzojX | [dz]ˤəʔ | be at, be present |
說文解字
《說文》：“在，存也。从土，才聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.908
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Simplified
Original meaning: wind instrument
Pictograph of a musical wind instrument with a reed, which is now written as 竽. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | hju | ɢʷ(r)a | go; at |
| hju | ɦʷa (< *ɢʷ(r)a) | 單于 chányú: Xiōngnú ruler (W. Hàn) |
說文解字
《說文》：“于，於也。象气之舒于。从丂，从一。一者，其气平之也。”
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)
Traditional
Original meaning: type of bird
Phonosemantic compound. 隹 represents the meaning and 𦰩 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "type of bird". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nan | nˤar | difficult |
| nanH | nˤar-s | difficulty |
說文解字
《說文》：“，鳥也。从鳥，堇聲。難，或从隹。”
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)
Traditional
Originally a variant form of 烏, which is a pictograph of a crow. The current use as a function word is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'u | [ʔ]ˤa | oh! |
| 'jo | [ʔ]a | at (locative preposition) |
說文解字
《說文》：“烏，孝鳥也。象形。孔子曰：‘烏，呼也。’取其助气，故以為烏呼。，古文烏，象形。於，象古文烏省。”
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)