Tóu​wū​xiāng

Touwu Township

tóu, tou head Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. The simplified character was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character .

Components

dòu bean
(head), page

Depicts a head on top of a person.

Component uses

Simplified (2)

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

house, room

Depicts a yurt (𡉉) over a room ().

Components

𡉉
𡉉 SoundIconic component
què yurt

Depicts a yurt. 𡉉 also represents the sound. Modern form looks like .

Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 𡉉 than it was in ancient scripts.
shì room

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 6 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Iconic (1)

Remnant (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'uwkqˤok (or *ʔˤok ?)house; roof

說文解字

《說文》:“屋,居也。从尸,尸,所主也。一曰尸象屋形;从至,至,所至止。室、屋皆从至。,籀文屋,从厂。,古文屋。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.677-678zi.tools
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

xiāng hometown Simplified

Simplified form of . Pictograph of two people facing each other, kneeling down to share a meal. Based on the original meaning "feast" or "offer food", now written as . The meaning later shifted to "hometown". The right two components were removed for simplification.

Components

Iconic component
jié person kneeling

Depicts a kneeling person facing right.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Deleted component
eat
Deleted component
jié person kneeling

Depicts a kneeling person facing left.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Simplified (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

tóu, tou head Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Iconic component
(head), page

Depicts a head on top of a person.

Sound component
dòu bean

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartduw[m-t]ˤo head

說文解字

《說文》:“頭,首也。从頁,豆聲。”

Sources

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

xiāng hometown Traditional

Original meaning: feast, offer food

Pictograph of two people facing each other, kneeling down to share a meal. Based on the original meaning "feast" or "offer food", now written as . The meaning later shifted to "hometown".

Components

Iconic component
jié person kneeling

Depicts a kneeling person facing right.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Iconic component
eat
Iconic component
jié person kneeling

Depicts a kneeling person facing left.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.

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 Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxjangqʰaŋ village; district
xjangXqʰaŋʔ feast
xjangHqʰaŋ-s to face

Sources

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