圣诞老公公
Shèng​dàn​lǎo​gōng​gōng

Santa Claus

圣 shèng sage, holy Simplified

Simplified form of 聖. Depicts listening (耳) to what is spoken (口). 𡈼 represents the sound.

Components

又
又 Simplified component
yòu again

Shorthand for the 耳 component in the traditional character 聖.

土
土 Simplified component
tǔ earth

Shorthand for the 𡈼 component in the traditional character 聖.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

怪蛏柽

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

《說文》：“圣，汝潁之閒，謂致力於地曰圣。从土，从又。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫Zhengzhang Shangfang
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

诞 dàn birth Simplified

Original meaning: tell false words

Phonosemantic compound. 讠 represents the meaning and 延 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "tell false words". The meaning later shifted to "boast", "increase", and "give birth". Simplified form of 誕.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

Change in meaning
讠 hints at the original meaning of 诞, "tell false words", which is no longer the most common meaning of 诞 in modern Mandarin.
延
延 Sound component
yán delay

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

老 lǎo old

Pictograph of an old person with long hair bent over and leaning on a cane.

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
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 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 Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

姥佬铑栳咾

Meaning (1 of 5 verified)

姥佬耆耄耋

Iconic (1)

孝

Remnant (1)

孝

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlawXC.rˤuʔ old

說文解字

《說文》：“老，考也。七十曰老。从人、毛、匕。言須髮變白也。”

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)

公 gōng public

Original meaning: earthen jar

Pictograph of a earthen jar for holding liquid, now written as 瓮. The current meaning "public" is a phonetic loan.

Components

八
八 Iconic component
bā eight

Depicts handles of a jar.

口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth

Depicts the opening of a jar.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 口 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 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 (5 of 14 verified)

容松讼翁颂瓮蚣衮忪袞頌訟鈆彸

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkuwngC.qˤoŋ impartial, just; public
kuwngC.qˤoŋ father; prince

說文解字

《說文》：“公，平分也。从八、从厶。八，猶背也。韓非曰：‘背厶為公’。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.86-87
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

聖 shèng sage, holy Traditional

Depicts listening (耳) to what is spoken (口). 𡈼 represents the sound.

Components

耳
耳 Iconic component
ěr ear
口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth
𡈼
𡈼 Sound component
tǐng, tíng, zhēng stand upright

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsyengHl̥eŋ-s sage (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“聖，通也。从耳，呈聲。”

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)

誕 dàn birth Traditional

Original meaning: tell false words

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 延 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "tell false words". The meaning later shifted to "boast", "increase", and "give birth".

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
Change in meaning
言 hints at the original meaning of 誕, "tell false words", which is no longer the most common meaning of 誕 in modern Mandarin.
延
延 Sound component
yán delay

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangl'aːnʔ
Unicodedhɑ̌n

說文解字

《說文》：“誕，詞誕也。从言，延聲。，籀文省。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)