Sài​miù'ěr Yuē​hàn​xùn

Samuel Johnson

sāi, sè stop up

Depicts two hands () stuffing various objects () into an enclosed space (). The (earth) component was added later.

Components

Iconic component
mián roof
Iconic component
gōng work
Iconic component
gōng work
Iconic component
gǒng two hands
Meaning component
earth

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsojH[s]ˤək-s frontier
sojH[s]ˤək-s pass (n.)
sok[s]ˤək stop up, block (v.)

說文解字

《說文》:“塞,隔也。从土,从。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.1189-1190
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

móu, miù, miào wind around Simplified

Components

Meaning component
silk

thread

Sound component
liù, lù to sweep away, to remove

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

ěr you Simplified

Simplified form of . Pictograph of a weapon with a sharp head and tail decorations on the end. Similar in origin to . Original meaning unclear.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 5 verified)

Meaning (1 of 3 verified)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnyeXn[ə][r]ʔ you(r)

說文解字

《說文》:“尒,詞之必然也。从入、丨、八,八象气之分散。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.259董蓮池《說文解字考正》p.129
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

yuē agreement Simplified

Original meaning: bind

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bind". The meaning later shifted to "agreement", "restrain", "keep under control", "appointment", and "approximately".

Components

Meaning component
silk

is a component form of .

Sound component
sháo, shuò, zhuó spoon
Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

hàn writing brush

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
feather
Sound component
gàn sunrise

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthanH[g]ˤar (MC implies *-s)white (of a horse)
hanH[g]ˤar-s pheasant; feather, wing
hanH[g]ˤar-s high
hanHm-kˤar-s prop up, support

說文解字

《說文》:“翰,天雞,赤羽也。从羽,倝聲。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

xùn humble Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

Meaning component
chuò walk

is a component form of .

Sound component
sūn grandchild

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

wind around Traditional

Components

Meaning component
silk

thread

Sound component
liù, lù to sweep away, to remove

Character Evolution

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 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 Chinese
Zhengzhangmlɯw
mɡrɯw
mrɯws
mlɯwɢ
Unicodemiəu

說文解字

枲之十絜也。一曰綢繆。从糸翏聲。

Sources

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

ěr you Traditional

Pictograph of a weapon with a sharp head and tail decorations on the end. Similar in origin to . Original meaning unclear.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnejXnˤ[ə][r]ʔ numerous
nyeXn[ə][r]ʔ (adv. suffix)
nyeXn[ə][r]ʔ you(r)

說文解字

《說文》:“爾,麗爾,猶靡麗也。从冂,从,其孔;尒聲。此與爽同意。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.259董蓮池《說文解字考正》p.129
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

yuē agreement Traditional

Original meaning: bind

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bind". The meaning later shifted to "agreement", "restrain", "keep under control", "appointment", and "approximately".

Components

Meaning component
silk

is a component form of .

Sound component
sháo, shuò, zhuó spoon
Change in sound

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 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jiewH[q]ewk-s bond, agreement (n.)
'jak[q](r)ewk bind (v.), make an agreement

說文解字

《說文》:“約,纏束也。从糸,勺聲。”

Sources

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

xùn humble Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
chuò walk

is a component form of .

Sound component
sūn grandchild

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsuːns
Unicodesuə̀n

說文解字

遁也。从辵孫聲。

Sources

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