Originally depicted two pieces of meat (肉) on a sacrificial altar (且). Based on the original meaning "sacrificial meat". The meaning later shifted to "suitable".
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ngje | ŋ(r)aj | sacrifice to the deity of the soil (K) |
| ngje | ŋ(r)aj | proper; should |
說文解字
《說文》：“宜，所安也。从宀之下，一之上，多省聲。，古文宜。，亦古文宜。”
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: call loudly
Originally composed of 口 (mouth) and 日 (sun), representing a call in the morning to wake people up at sunrise to start working. Based on the original meaning "call loudly", now written as 唱. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | |
|---|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | tʰjaŋ | |
| Unicode | chiɑng |
說文解字
《說文》：“昌，美言也。从日，从曰。一曰日光也。《詩》曰：‘東方昌矣。’，籀文昌。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.536
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Zhengzhang Shangfang
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Origin unclear. 止 represents the sound.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dzyiX | C.[d]əʔ | market (n.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“市，買賣所之也。市有垣，从冂，从乁。乁，古文及，象物相及也。之省聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.499-450
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)