外交学院 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

Wàijiāo Xuéyuàn

China Foreign Affairs University

wài outside

Phonosemantic compound. 卜 represents the meaning and 月 represents the sound.

Components

卜 Iconic component

bo fortune telling

Depicts the cracks on the outside of a turtle shell.

月 Sound component

yuè, yue moon

Looks like 夕, which is also a pictograph of a moon.

Change in sound

外 and 月 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
外 *[ŋ]ʷˤa[t]-s
月 *[ŋ]ʷat

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 月 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 Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

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

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

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	ngwajH	[ŋ]ʷˤa[t]-s	outside

說文解字

《說文》：“外，遠也。卜尚平旦，今夕卜，於事外矣。，古文外。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.555-556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)

jiāo to cross, to mix

Pictograph of a person standing with crossed legs, conveying the meaning "to cross".

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

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (8 of 24 verified)

较效校咬胶郊狡绞蛟饺跤佼皎铰姣較鲛茭筊餃絞洨鉸鮫 show all 24 show fewer

Meaning (0 of 4 verified)

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kaew	[k]ˤraw	cross (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“交，交脛也。从大，象交形。”

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)

xué learning Simplified

Simplified form of 學. Depicts two hands (𦥑) teaching a child (子) under a roof (宀). 爻 represents the sound.

Components

◎ Simplified component

characterless component

Shorthand for the 𦥑 and 爻 components in the traditional character 學.

宀 Iconic component

mián roof

子 Iconic component

zi, zǐ child

Component uses

Sound (1)

Remnant (1)

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

yuàn courtyard

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 完 represents the sound.

Components

阝 Meaning component

fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

完 Sound component

wán complete

Character Evolution

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Qin 221-206 BC

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	hjwenH	ɢʷra[n]-s	wall round a courtyard

說文解字

堅也。从𨸏完聲。

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)

xué learning Traditional

Depicts two hands (𦥑) teaching a child (子) under a roof (宀). 爻 represents the sound.

Components

𦥑 Iconic component

jú, jǔ, póu two hands

Depicts two hands.

爻 Sound component

yáo, xiào diagrams for divination

Change in sound

學 and 爻 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
學 haewk
爻 haew

宀 Iconic component

mián roof

Depicts a roof.

子 Iconic component

zi, zǐ child

Depicts a child.

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

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	haewk	m-kˤruk	study; imitate

說文解字

《說文》：“斆，覺悟也。从教，从冖，冖，尚矇也，臼聲。學，篆文斅省。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.247-248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)