外商直接投资 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

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

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

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)

shāng commerce, business

Origin unclear. Composed of 辛 (chisel) and 丙 (pedestal) with 口 being later added as a distinguishing component for the name of an ancient kingdom.

Components

辛 Unknown component

xīn laborious

The purpose of this component is unclear.

丙 Unknown component

bǐng third

The purpose of this component is unclear.

口 Distinguishing component

kǒu, kou mouth

This component was later added when the character was used for the name of an ancient kingdom.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

熵墒

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	syang	s-taŋ	musical note
	syang	s-taŋ	(place name)
	syang	s-taŋ	estimate; business; trader

說文解字

《說文》：“商，从外知內也。从，章省聲。，古文商。，亦古文商。，籀文商。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫The Outlier Linguistics Dictionary of Chinese Characters中華語文知識庫
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

zhí straight

Pictograph of a straight line coming from the eye, to depict looking straight at something. The purpose of the stroke at the bottom is unclear.

Components

◎ Iconic component

characterless component

Depicts a straight line

目 Iconic component

mù eye

◎ Unknown component

characterless component

The purpose of this component is unclear.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (5 of 7 verified)

值置植殖埴稙惪

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

矗惪

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	drik	N-t<r>ək	straight

說文解字

《說文》：“直，正見也。从，从十，从目。，古文直。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.870
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

jiē receive

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 妾 represents the sound.

Components

扌 Meaning component

shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

妾 Sound component

qiè concubine

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsjep	[ts][a]p	connect

說文解字

《說文》：“接，交也。从手，妾聲。”

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)

tóu throw

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 殳 represents the sound.

Components

扌 Meaning component

shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

殳 Sound component

shū weapon or tool

Change in sound

投 and 殳 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
投 *[d]ˤo
殳 *[d]o

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	duw	[d]ˤo	throw

說文解字

《說文》：“投，擿也。从手，从殳。”

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)

zī property Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 贝 represents the meaning and 次 represents the sound. Simplified form of 資.

Components

次 Sound component

cì second, next

贝 Meaning component

bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

zī property Traditional

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

Components

次 Sound component

cì second, next

貝 Meaning component

bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsij	[ts]ij	property, means of living

說文解字

《說文》：“資，貨也。从貝，次聲。”

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)

外 wài outside

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

商 shāng commerce, business

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

直 zhí straight

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (5 of 7 verified)

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

接 jiē receive

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

投 tóu throw

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

资 zī property Simplified

Components

Sources

資 zī property Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

wài outside

shāng commerce, business

zhí straight

jiē receive

tóu throw

zī property Simplified

zī property Traditional