Depicts three small dots, representing the meaning "small". Originally the same character as 少. The small dots possibly represent grains of sand (沙).
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | sjewX | [s]ewʔ | small |
說文解字
《說文》：“小，物之微也。从八，丨見而分之。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.79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)
Depicts a decorative crown above 王 (king).
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | hwang | [ɢ]ʷˤaŋ | yellow and white spotted |
| hwang | [ɢ]ʷˤaŋ | sovereign |
說文解字
《說文》：“皇，大也。从自，自，始也，始皇者，三皇大君也。自，讀若鼻，今俗以始生子為鼻子。”
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: firewood used as sacrifice
Pictograph of firewood bundled together for a sacrifice. Based on the original meaning "firewood used as sacrifice", now written as 禘. Later the meaning changed to "emperor".
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tejH | tˤek-s | God |
說文解字
《說文》：“帝，諦也。王天下之號也。从丄，朿聲。，古文帝。古文諸丄字皆从一，篆文皆从，，古文上字。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.46
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)