地质年代表
dì​zhì​nián​dài​biǎo

geological time scale

地 de, dì earth

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 也 represents the sound.

Components

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth
也
也 Sound component
yě also
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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
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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdijH[l]ˤej-s earth, ground

說文解字

《說文》：“地，元气初分，輕、清、陽為天；重、濁、陰為地。萬物所陳列也。从土，也聲。墬，籀文地从。”

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)

质 zhì nature, substance Simplified

Original meaning: pledge, pawn

Simplified form of 質. Phonosemantic compound. 斦 represents the sound and 贝 represents the meaning.

Components

斤
斤 Simplified component
jīn axe

Shorthand for the phonetic 斦 component in the traditional character 質.

贝
贝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Change in meaning
贝 hints at the original meaning of 质, "pledge, pawn", which is no longer the most common meaning of 质 in modern Mandarin.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

踬𬃊

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p. 522
Readings & variants
Unicode

年 nián year

Original meaning: harvest

Pictograph of a person (人) harvesting grain (禾). The harvest season is a yearly event.

Components

禾
禾 Iconic component
hé grain stalk
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 禾 than it was in ancient scripts.
人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 人 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnenC.nˤi[ŋ] harvest; year

說文解字

《說文》：“年，穀孰也。从禾，千聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.574-575
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

代 dài replace

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 弋 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

弋
弋 Sound component
yì to shoot
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 6 verified)

袋贷黛岱玳貸

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdojHlˤək-s replace

說文解字

《說文》：“代，更也。从人，弋聲。”

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)

表 biǎo exterior surface

Depicts clothes (衣) made from fur (毛), typically the outermost layer of clothing. In simplified Chinese 表 is also used to mean "wristwatch", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 錶.

Components

毛
毛 Meaning component
máo, mao hair
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 毛 than it was in ancient scripts.
衣
衣 Meaning component
yī clothes

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

婊裱錶

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

裱

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjewXp(r)awʔ exterior

說文解字

《說文》：“表，上衣也。从衣，从毛‧古者衣裘，以毛為表。，古文表从麃。”

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)

質 zhì nature, substance Traditional

Original meaning: pledge, pawn

Phonosemantic compound. 斦 represents the sound and 貝 represents the meaning.

Components

斦
斦 Sound component
zhì, yín chopping block
貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Change in meaning
貝 hints at the original meaning of 質, "pledge, pawn", which is no longer the most common meaning of 質 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

櫍躓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttrijH[t]<r>ip-s hostage; gift
tsyitt-lit substance, solid part

說文解字

《說文》：“質，以物相贅，从貝，从斦。闕。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p. 522
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)