外汇存底
wài​huì​cún​dǐ

foreign reserves

外 wài outside

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

Components

卜
卜 Iconic component
bo fortune telling

Depicts the cracks on the outside of a turtle shell.

月
月 Sound component
yuè, yue moon

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

Change in sound
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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngwajH[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)

汇 huì confluence of rivers, exchange Simplified

Depicts water (氵) gathered together (匚). Simplified form of 匯.

Components

氵
氵 MeaningSimplified component
shui, shuǐ water

Shorthand for the 淮 component in the traditional character 匯.

匚
匚 Meaning component
fāng, fàng box

Sources

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

存 cún exist, keep

Phonosemantic compound. 子 represents the meaning and 才 represents the sound.

Components

子
子 Meaning component
zi, zǐ child
才
才 Sound component
cái, cai talent
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (1)

荐

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzwon[dz]ˤə[n] exist

說文解字

《說文》：“存，恤問也。从子，才聲。”

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)

底 dǐ bottom

Phonosemantic compound. 广 represents the meaning and 氐 represents the sound.

Components

广
广 Meaning component
guǎng roof
氐
氐 SoundMeaning component
dī, dǐ, zhī bottom

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttejXtˤijʔ bottom; stop, obstruct

說文解字

《說文》：“底，山居也。一曰下也。从广，氐聲。”

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)

匯 huì confluence of rivers, exchange Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 匚 represents the meaning and 淮 represents the sound.

Components

匚
匚 Meaning component
fāng, fàng box
淮
淮 SoundMeaning component
huái river in Anhui province

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangɢʷrɯːlʔ
kʰʷriːl
Unicodehuə̌i

說文解字

《說文》：“匯，器也。从匚，淮聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)