希伯来文
Xī​bó​lái​wén

Hebrew

希 xī hope

Original meaning: type of cloth

Composed of 爻 (cross shape) and 巾 (cloth). 爻 is here used to depict the pattern of the cloth. Originally depicted a type of cloth. The meaning later shifted to "sparse", "rare", and "hope".

Components

爻
爻 Iconic component
yáo, xiào diagrams for divination

Depicts pattern on the cloth.

巾
巾 Meaning component
jīn cloth

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

稀烯唏浠欷郗

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxj+jqʰəj thin, sparse

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.2866
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

伯 bó, bo older brother, uncle

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 白 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

白
白 Sound component
bái, bai white

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpaekpˤrak father’s elder brother

說文解字

《說文》：“伯，長也。从人，白聲。”

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)

来 lái come Simplified

Original meaning: wheat

Simplified form of 來. Pictograph of a stalk of wheat. The current meaning "come" is a phonetic loan. The original meaning "wheat" is now written as 麥.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

莱睐涞徕崃赉铼梾

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.465
Readings & variants
Unicode

文 wén writing

Pictograph of a man with writing (possibly a tattoo) on his chest. In later scripts the writing was abbreviated to a dot or omitted altogether.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 13 verified)

这纹玫坟蚊雯紊汶玟紋閔忞炆

Meaning (2 of 8 verified)

斑斌彦斐闵斓彥斕

Simplified (2)

这刘

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmjunmə[n] ornate

說文解字

《說文》：“文，錯畫也。象交文。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.706
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

來 lái come Traditional

Original meaning: wheat

Pictograph of a stalk of wheat. The current meaning "come" is a phonetic loan. The original meaning "wheat" is now written as 麥.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
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 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 8 verified)

麦麥睞萊賚徠棶淶

Iconic (4)

差麦麥𠩺

Simplified (1)

麦

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlojmə.rˤək (> *mə.rˤə)a kind of wheat
lojmə.rˤək (> *rˤə)come

說文解字

《說文》：“來，周所受瑞麥來麰，一來二縫。象芒朿之形。天所來也，故為行來之來。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.465
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)