Original meaning: fontanel
Depicts an opening in a child's (子) head, representing the fontanel. Based on the original meaning "fontanel". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "hole" and "opening".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | khuwngX | [k]ʰˤoŋʔ | (surname) |
說文解字
《說文》：“孔，通也。从乙，从子。乙，請子之候鳥也。乙至而得子，嘉美之也。古人名嘉，字子孔。”
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)
Original meaning: intense pain from an illness
Depicts a person with a swollen abdomen (㐆) receiving an acupuncture from a hand holding a needle (殳). Based on the original meaning "intense pain from an illness". The meaning later shifted to "abundant" and "many" while it's other meaning used as the name of a dynasty at the end of the Shang dynasty is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'ean | ʔˤrə[r] | dark-red |
| 'j+n | ʔə[r] | 殷殷 distressed | |
| 'j+n | ʔə[r] | ample, many | |
| 'j+n | ʔər | (dynastic name) |
說文解字
《說文》：“殷，作樂之盛稱殷。从，从殳。《易》曰：‘殷薦之上帝。’”
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)