Depicts a woman (女) sitting under a roof (宀). Older forms of this character depict a person kneeling with a mark on their thigh and shin to indicate sitting.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'an | [ʔ]ˤa[n] | peace(ful) |
| 'an | [ʔ]ˤa[n] | how | |
| 'an | [ʔ]ˤa[n] | 安息 Ānxī (Iranian country in the western regions, W. Hàn; from Aršaka = Arsaces, founder of the Arsacid dynasty) |
說文解字
《說文》：“安，靜也。从女在宀下。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫徐超《古漢字通解500例》p.1-2
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: stop; approach
Depicts one person (匕) carrying another person (尸) on their back. Based on the original meaning "stop; approach". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nejX | nˤərʔ | to stop |
| nejH | nˤərʔ-s | to stop, obstruct | |
| nrij | nr[əj] | near, close |
說文解字
《說文》：“尼，從後近之。从尸，匕聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.675-676
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Pictograph of a basket or a bag. The current meaning "east" is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tuwng | tˤoŋ (< *tˤoŋʔ ?) | east |
說文解字
《說文》：“東，動也。从木。官溥說，从日在木中。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.492-493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)