dà​zhāng​tà​fá

attack

dà, dài big

Depicts an adult man facing forward and standing erect. The meaning later shifted to "big".

Character Evolution

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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

Component uses

Meaning (9 of 21 verified)

Sound (6 of 11 verified)

Simplified (4)

Unknown (0 of 2 verified)

Deleted (1)

Remnant (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdaHlˤat-s (MC F!)big
dajHlˤa[t]-s big

說文解字

《說文》:“大,天大、地大、人亦大,故大象人形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.764
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

zhāng stretch Simplified

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

Components

Meaning component
gōng bow
Sound component
zhǎng, cháng long

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

flog Simplified

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

Components

Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

is a component form of .

Sound component
arrive at

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

cut down

Original meaning: to behead someone

Depicts a weapon () slashing a person's () neck. Based on the original meaning "to behead someone". The meaning later shifted to "to attack" and "cut down".

Components

Iconic component
rén person
Iconic component
spear

Character Evolution

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 Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjotm-pat cut; strike; attack

說文解字

《說文》:“伐,擊也。从人持戈。一曰敗也。”

Sources

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

zhāng stretch Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
gōng bow
Sound component
zhǎng, cháng long

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttrjangC.traŋ draw a bow

說文解字

《說文》:“張,施弓弦也。从弓,長聲。”

Sources

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

flog Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

is a component form of .

Sound component
arrive at

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangtʰaːd
tʰaːd
Unicodetɑt

說文解字

鄉飲酒,罰不敬,撻其背。从手達聲。

Sources

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