Depicts four dots, representing the meaning "few". Originally the same character as 小. The small dots possibly represent grains of sand (沙).
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | syewX | [s.t]ewʔ | few |
| syewH | [s-t]ewʔ-s | young |
說文解字
《說文》：“少，不多也。从小，丿聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.79
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: harvest
Pictograph of a person (人) harvesting grain (禾). The harvest season is a yearly event.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nen | C.nˤi[ŋ] | harvest; year |
說文解字
《說文》：“年，穀孰也。从禾，千聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.574-575
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)