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)
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kon | [k]ˤə[r] | root, trunk |
說文解字
《說文》：“根，木株也。从木，艮聲。”
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)
Bamboo-like ⺮ tendons in the chest 肋
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kjɨn | C.[k]ə[n] | sinew |
| Zhengzhang | kɯn | ||
| Unicode | giən |
說文解字
肉之力也。从力从肉从竹。竹，物之多筋者。凡筋之屬皆从筋。
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)