屁股决定脑袋
pì​gu​jué​dìng​nǎo​dai

positional perspective

屁 pì fart

Phonosemantic compound. 尸 represents the meaning and 比 represents the sound.

Components

尸
尸 Meaning component
shī sitting person

Depicts a person squatting.

比
比 Sound component
bǐ to compare

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpʰis

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

股 gǔ, gu thighs

Originally written as 夃, depicting a person with a marker indicating the location of the thigh. Later the ⺼ component was added.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

夃
夃 SoundMeaning component
gū, yíng thigh

Modern form looks like 殳.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 夃 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkuXkʷˤaʔ thigh

說文解字

《說文》：“股，髀也。从肉，殳聲。”

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)

决 jué decide Simplified

Simplified form of 決. Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 夬 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "burst open". The meaning later shifted to "clear", "cut off", "decide" and "judge".

Components

冫
冫 Simplified component
bīng ice

Shorthand for the 氵 component in the traditional character 決. 氵 is a component form of 水.

夬
夬 Sound component
guài, jué parted
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

定 dìng settle

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 正 represents the sound.

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof
正
正 Sound component
zhèng, zheng, zhēng correct
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 9 verified)

绽淀锭啶碇靛腚錠綻

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdengHN-tˤeŋ-s become fixed; settled (v.i.)
dengHm-tˤeŋ-s make fixed, settle (v.t.)
tengHtˤeŋ-s ready-cooked (food)

說文解字

《說文》：“定，安也。从宀，从正。”

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)

脑 nǎo brain Simplified

Simplified form of 腦. Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 𡿺 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

囟
囟 Simplified component
xìn fontanel

Shorthand for the phonetic 𡿺 component in the traditional character 腦.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

袋 dài, dai pocket, bag

Phonosemantic compound. 衣 represents the meaning and 代 represents the sound.

Components

代
代 Sound component
dài replace
衣
衣 Meaning component
yī clothes

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdojHCə.lˤək-s bag

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart

決 jué decide Traditional

Original meaning: burst open

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 夬 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "burst open". The meaning later shifted to "clear", "cut off", "decide" and "judge".

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

夬
夬 Sound component
guài, jué parted
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwet[k]ʷˤet open a passage for a stream
kwet[k]ʷˤet open; decide

說文解字

《說文》：“決，行流也。从水，从夬。廬江有決水，出於大別山。”

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)

腦 nǎo brain Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 𡿺 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

𡿺
𡿺 SoundMeaning component
nǎo brain

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnawXnˤ[u]ʔ brain

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart