líng prison

Components

Meaning component
wéi, guó surround

enclosure

Sound component
lìng command

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangreːŋ

說文解字

獄也。从囗令聲。

Sources

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

stable

Components

Meaning component
wéi, guó surround

enclosure

Sound component
xìng fortunate

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngjoXm-qʰ<r>aʔprison; keep in enclosure
Zhengzhangŋaʔ
Unicodengiǔ

說文解字

囹圄,所以拘罪人。从㚔从囗。一曰圉,垂也。一曰圉人,掌馬者。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica