奇门遁甲 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

qí strange

Phonosemantic compound. 大 represents the meaning and 可 represents the sound.

Components

dà, dài big

kě able to

Change in sound

奇 and 可 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
奇 *[k](r)aj
可 *[k]ʰˤa[j]ʔ

Character Evolution

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

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (4 of 18 verified)

骑寄椅倚崎畸琦绮犄旖猗欹剞齮掎騎綺埼

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

畸

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kje	[k](r)aj	odd (number)
	gje	N-k(r)aj	strange

說文解字

《說文》：“奇，異也。一曰不耦。从大，从可。”

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)

mén, men door Simplified

Simplified form of 門. Pictograph of a gate.

Component uses

Meaning (2 of 32 verified)

阅闲阔阁闯阐阎阀闸闺阙阑阉阂闩闾阖闱阈闶闼阋阕闳阏阒阍阆阃闫阊阚 show all 32 show fewer

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

dùn hide

To escape 辶 to shelter 盾; 盾 also provides the pronunciation

Components

辶 Meaning component

chuò walk

盾 Sound Meaning component

dùn shield

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dwonX	lˤu[n]ʔ	withdraw
	dwonH	lˤu[n]ʔ-s	withdraw
Zhengzhang		l'uːnʔ
		l'uːns
Unicode	dhuə̀n
	dhuə̌n

說文解字

遷也。一曰逃也。从辵盾聲。

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

jiǎ, jia 1st heavenly stem, fingernail

Origin unclear. Possibly depicts cracks on a shell or tree bark.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (3 of 14 verified)

押鸭匣闸奄钾呷岬胛狎柙鉀鴨閘

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

厣

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kaep	[k]ˤr[a]p	1st heavenly stem; fingernail

說文解字

《說文》：“甲，東方之孟，陽气萌動。从木戴孚甲之象。一曰人頭宜為甲，甲象人頭。，古文甲，始於十，見於千，成於木之象。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.957-958李学勤《字源》p.1270-1271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)

mén, men door Traditional

Original meaning: outer door

Pictograph of a gate.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Meaning (5 of 34 verified)

關閱闆閒閤闊闉閣閶閻閭闢闃闕閬閾閔閑閹闌闡闖閘闞闈閡閨閫閦閼閎闔閂閥 show all 34 show fewer

Sound (3 of 8 verified)

聞誾閵問們捫閩悶

Iconic (5)

間開閉閃閏

Deleted (2)

开关

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	mwon	mˤə[r]	gate, door

說文解字

《說文》：“門，聞也。从二戶，象形。”

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

奇 qí strange

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (4 of 18 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

门 mén, men door Simplified

Component uses

Meaning (2 of 32 verified)

Sound (3 of 10 verified)

Iconic (5)

Simplified (1)

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

遁 dùn hide

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

甲 jiǎ, jia 1st heavenly stem, fingernail

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (3 of 14 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

門 mén, men door Traditional

Character Evolution

Component uses

Meaning (5 of 34 verified)

Sound (3 of 8 verified)

Iconic (5)

Deleted (2)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

qí strange

mén, men door Simplified

dùn hide

jiǎ, jia 1st heavenly stem, fingernail

mén, men door Traditional