如丧考妣
rú​sàng​kǎo​bǐ

distraught

如 rú be like

Original meaning: obey

Depicts a woman (女) obeying spoken (口) orders. Based on the original meaning "obey". The meaning later shifted to "be similar" and "like". 女 also serves as a sound component.

Components

女
女 SoundIconic component
nǚ, nü woman
口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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 (0 of 5 verified)

恕絮茹洳铷

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnyona go to
nyona as, like, if

說文解字

《說文》：“如，从隨也。从女，从口。”

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)

丧 sàng mourning Simplified

Simplified form of 喪. Depicts multiple mouths (吅) wailing to mourn the death (亡) of someone. 桑 and 亡 represent the sound.

Components

桑
桑 Sound component
sāng mulberry tree
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 桑 than it was in ancient scripts.
吅
吅 IconicSimplified component
xuān, sòng noise

Depicts multiple mouths wailing.

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

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.107漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

考 kǎo examine

Original meaning: old father

Depicts an old man (耂) with a cane (丂). Originally the same character as 老. Based on the original meaning "old father". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

耂
耂 Iconic component
lǎo old

耂 is a component form of 老.

丂
丂 SoundIconic component
kǎo, qiǎo, yú axe handle

Depicts a cane.


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
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 Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
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 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 (1 of 5 verified)

烤拷铐栲銬

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

拷

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhawXk-r̥ˤuʔ old; deceased father

說文解字

《說文》：“考，老也。从老省，丂聲。”

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)

妣 bǐ one's deceased mother

Components

女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman

woman

比
比 Sound component
bǐ to compare

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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-SagartpjijXpijʔdeceased mother
pjijHpijʔ-sdeceased mother
Zhengzhangpiʔ
pis

說文解字

殁母也。从女比聲。

Sources

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

喪 sàng mourning Traditional

Depicts multiple mouths (吅) wailing to mourn the death (亡) of someone. 桑 and 亡 represent the sound.

Components

桑
桑 Sound component
sāng mulberry tree
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 桑 than it was in ancient scripts.
吅
吅 Iconic component
xuān, sòng noise

Depicts multiple mouths wailing.

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

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsangs-mˤaŋ mourning, burial
sangHs-mˤaŋ-s lose; destroy

說文解字

《說文》：“喪，亡也。从哭，从亡，會意。亡亦聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.107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)