巴布亚纽几内亚
Bā​bù​yà Niǔ Jī​nèi​yà

Papua New Guinea

巴 ba, bā to wish

Depicts a person grabbing something with their hand. Original form of 把. In modern Chinese this character is usually used only for its sound.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 18 verified)

把吧爸爬疤芭靶琶笆耙粑杷鲃钯岜鈀䰾皅

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpaepˤra snake
paepˤra [place name]

說文解字

《說文》：“巴，蟲也。或曰食象蛇。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.1637
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

布 bù cotton cloth

Phonosemantic compound. 巾 represents the meaning and 父 represents the sound.

Components

父
父 Sound component
fù father
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 父 than it was in ancient scripts.
巾
巾 Meaning component
jīn cloth

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 Qin 221-206 BC
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

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

怖钸鈽佈

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpuHpˤa-s cloth
puHpˤa-s cloth

說文解字

《說文》：“布，枲織也。从巾，父聲。”

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)

亚 yà Asia, sub- Simplified

Original meaning: tomb

Simplified form of 亞. Depicts a wooden structure where coffins are placed. Based on the original meaning "tomb". The current meaning "Asia" is a phonetic loan.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

恶哑娅垩桠氩垭痖

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

晋

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

纽 niǔ knot, button Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 丑 represents the sound. Simplified form of 紐.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

丑
丑 Sound component
chǒu second earthly branch; (simp.) ugly

Sources

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

几 jǐ, jī small table Simplified

Pictograph of a small table. In simplified Chinese 几 is also used to mean "how much", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 幾.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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

Component uses

Sound (3 of 13 verified)

机凯肌玑饥讥叽矶麂虮飢凱処

Meaning (2 of 7 verified)

凭壳凰秃凳冗殼

Unknown (0 of 2 verified)

凫鳧

Simplified (1)

机

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkijXC.kr[ə]jʔ stool

說文解字

《說文》：“几，踞几也。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.929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)

内 nèi inside Simplified

Depicts a person (人) inside a building (冂).

Components

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person
冂
冂 Iconic component
jiōng, jiǒng large room

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
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

Component uses

Sound (5 of 13 verified)

纳呐钠讷芮衲蚋肭納枘鈉㕯訥

說文解字

《說文》：“內，入也。从口，自外而入也。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

亞 yà Asia, sub- Traditional

Original meaning: tomb

Depicts a wooden structure where coffins are placed. Based on the original meaning "tomb". The current meaning "Asia" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 (1 of 5 verified)

埡啞堊婭惡

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'aeHʔˤrak-s secondary

說文解字

《說文》：“亞，醜也。象人局背之形。賈侍中說以為次弟也。”

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)

紐 niǔ knot, button Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 丑 represents the sound.

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

丑
丑 Sound component
chǒu second earthly branch; (simp.) ugly

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnrjuwXn<r>uʔ fastener

說文解字

《說文》：“紐，系也。一曰結而可解。从糸，丑聲。”

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)

幾 jǐ how much Traditional

Original meaning: danger

Depicts a weapon (戈) cutting ropes (𢆶) tied around a person (人). Based on the original meaning "danger". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

𢆶
𢆶 Iconic component
yōu, zī threads
戈
戈 Iconic component
gē spear
人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 7 verified)

畿饑機嘰璣譏蟣

Remnant (1)

畿

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkj+jkəj small; almost
kj+jXkəjʔ few; how many

說文解字

《說文》：“幾，微也，殆也。从，从戍。戍，兵守也。而兵守者危也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.318-319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)

內 nèi inside Traditional

Depicts an entrance (入) to go inside a building (冂).

Components

入
入 Iconic component
rù enter
冂
冂 Iconic component
jiōng, jiǒng large room

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

吶

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnopnˤ[u]p bring or send in
nwojHnˤ[u]p-s inside

說文解字

《說文》：“內，入也。从口，自外而入也。”

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)