rú​jiāo​sì​qī

inseparable

be like

Original meaning: obey

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

Components

SoundIconic component
nǚ, nü woman
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)

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

jiāo glue Simplified

Tendons that connect  muscles ⺼;  also provides the pronunciation

Components

Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh
SoundMeaning component
jiāo to cross, to mix

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangɡreːw

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

shì, sì resemble

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
rén person

is a component form of .

Sound component
by means of
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartziXsə.ləʔ resemble

Sources

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

varnish

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Originally written as , which depicts lacquer or sap oozing out from a varnish tree ().

Components

Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

is a component form of .

SoundMeaning component
varnish tree, lacquer

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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-Sagarttshit[tsʰ]i[t] varnish tree

說文解字

《說文》:“漆,水。出右扶風杜陵岐山,東入渭。一曰入洛。从水,桼聲。”

Sources

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

jiāo glue Traditional

Components

Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

flesh

Sound component
liù, lù to sweep away, to remove

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkæw[k]ˤriwglue
kæwX[k]ˤriwʔglue
Zhengzhangkrɯːw
krɯːws
kʰrɯːw
Unicodegau

說文解字

昵也。作之以皮。从肉翏聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica