Original meaning: slave
Pictograph of an eye (目) being poked with something sharp. In ancient China, slaves were sometimes punished by blinding them with a sharp object. Based on the original meaning "slave". The meaning later shifted to "common person".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | mjin | mi[ŋ] | people |
說文解字
《說文》:“民,眾萌也。从古文之象。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.855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)
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | sraeng | sreŋ (MC srj- > sr-; or *s.reŋ ?) | bear, be born; live |
| sraeng | sreŋ | fresh, raw | |
| srjaeng | sreŋ (or *s.reŋ ?) | bear, be born; live |
說文解字
《說文》:“生,進也。象艸木生出土上。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.506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
Simplified
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | driH | m-t<r>ək-s | hold upright |
說文解字
《說文》:“值,措也。从人,直聲。”
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)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kwok | [C.q]ʷˤək | state (n.) |
說文解字
《說文》:“國,邦也。从囗,从或。”
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
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | sreanX | s-ŋrarʔ | bear (v.), produce |
說文解字
《說文》:“產,生也。从生,彥省聲。”
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)
Traditional
Original meaning: bind together
Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 悤 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bind together", since thread (糹) is used to put things together.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tsuwng | [ts]ˤoŋ | bundle of threads |
| tsuwngX | [ts]ˤoŋ | bind together |
說文解字
《說文》:“總,聚束也。从糸,悤聲。”
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)