Original meaning: head
Depicts a person (大) with an emphasized head. Based on the original meaning "head". The meaning later shifted to "top", "high", and "sky".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | then | l̥ˤi[n] | heaven |
| xen | l̥ˤi[n] (W dialect: l̥ˤ- > Hàn-time *xˤ- > MC x-) | heaven |
說文解字
《說文》：“天，顛也。至高无上，从一、大。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.40-41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)
Simplified
Original meaning: carry on the head
Phonosemantic compound. 廾 represents the meaning and 已 represents the sound. Simplified form of 異. Based on the original meaning "carry on the head", now written as 戴. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | yiH | ɢ(r)ək-s | different |
說文解字
《說文》：“异，舉也。从廾，聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 李学勤《字源》p.204-205
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Simplified
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pjuH | p(r)a-s | tax; ballad |
| Zhengzhang | mpas | ||
| Unicode | biò | ||
| biò |
說文解字
斂也。从貝武聲。
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Original meaning: carry on the head
Depicts two hands putting something on top of the head. Based on the original meaning "carry on the head", now written as 戴. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | yiH | ɢ(r)ək-s | different |
說文解字
《說文》：“異，分也。从廾、从畀。畀，予也。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 李学勤《字源》p.204-205
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Original meaning: grain storage facility
Depicts a granary (㐭) for storing grains (禾) in. 㐭 also represents the sound. Similar in origin to 嗇. Based on the original meaning "grain storage facility". The meaning later shifted to "to endow" and "report to".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pimX | p.rimʔ (dialect: *p.r- > *pr-) | receive |
| pimX | p.rimʔ (dialect: > *p.r- > *pr-) | rations | |
| limX | p.rimʔ | rations |
說文解字
《說文》：“稟，賜穀也。从，从禾。”
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)