chuí​xián​yù​dī

covet

chuí droop

Original meaning: borderland

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and 𠂹 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "borderland", now written as . The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

𠂹
𠂹 Sound component
chuí grass, trees, flowers, leaves
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 𠂹 than it was in ancient scripts.
Meaning component
earth
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "borderland", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 9 verified)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzywe[d]o[j] hang down

說文解字

《玉篇》:“,《說文》垂。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

xián saliva

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

is a component form of .

Sound component
yán delay

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangljan
lans
Unicodeziɛn

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

desire

Phonosemantic compound. , depicting a person with an open mouth, represents the meaning, while represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
qiàn, qian yawn, deficient

Depicts a person with an open mouth.

Sound component
valley, ravine

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyowkɢ(r)ok desire (v.)

說文解字

《說文》:“欲,貪欲也。从欠,谷聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

drip

Phonosemantic compound. represents the sound and represents the meaning.

Components

Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

water

Sound component
dì, shì, zhāi stalk, stem, root

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangteːɡ
Unicodedek

說文解字

《說文》:“滴,水注也。从水,啻聲。”

Sources

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