常在河边走，哪有不湿鞋 Origin

cháng common

Original meaning: lower garment

Phonosemantic compound. 巾 represents the meaning and 尚 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning, "lower garment", now written as 裳. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

尚 Sound component

shàng, shang esteem

巾 Meaning component

jīn cloth

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

嫦

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dzyang	[d]aŋ	constant

說文解字

《說文》：“常，下帬也。从巾，尚聲。裳，常或从衣。”

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)

zài be at

Composed of 才 and 士, which both represent the sound.

Components

才 Sound component

cái, cai talent

士 Sound component

shì, shi scholar, soldier

Modern form looks like 土, but is unrelated.

Change in sound

在 and 士 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
在 dzojX
士 dzriX

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

茬

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dzojX	[dz]ˤəʔ	be at, be present

說文解字

《說文》：“在，存也。从土，才聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.908
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

hé river

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 可 represents the sound.

Components

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

可 Sound component

kě able to

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

菏

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

菏

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	ha	[C.g]ˤaj	river

說文解字

《說文》：“河，水。出焞煌塞外昆侖山，發原注海。从水，可聲。”

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)

biān, bian edge Simplified

Simplified form of 邊. Phonosemantic compound. 辶 and 方 represent the meaning, while 自 and 丙 represent the sound. The traditional components 自 and 丙 were removed for simplification.

Components

力 Simplified component

lì, li power

Shorthand for the 方 component in the traditional character 邊.

辶 Meaning component

chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

笾

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

zǒu walk

Originally written as 夭, depicting a person swaying their arms (夭) while walking quickly. The foot component 止 was added later.

Components

夭 Iconic component

yāo, wò, wāi die young

Depicts a person walking quickly.

止 Meaning component

zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Meaning (8 of 20 verified)

起越超赶趣趋赴趁趟赳趄趔趑趱趨趕趦趙趯赸

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

陡

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsuwX	[ts]ˤoʔ	run

說文解字

《說文》：“走，趨也。从夭、止，夭止者，屈也。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.108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)

nǎ, na which? where? how?

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 那 represents the sound.

Components

口 Meaning component

kǒu, kou mouth

那 Sound component

nà that

Sources

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

yǒu have

Depicts a hand (又) holding meat (肉). In Oracle script this character was written the same as the phonetically similar 又, but later the 肉 component was added to distinguish them.

Components

又 Sound Iconic component

yòu hand

Change in form

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

肉 Iconic component

ròu meat

Deceptively similar but unrelated to the character for moon (月).

Change in form

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

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1 of 9 verified)

郁囿宥鲔侑铕洧鮪迶

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

贿賄

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	hjuwX	[ɢ]ʷəʔ	have, exist

說文解字

《說文》：“有，不宜有也。《春秋傳》曰：‘日月有食之。’从月，又聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.550
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

bù, bu no

Original meaning: sepals

Pictograph of sepals of a flower. The modern meaning "no" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	pjuw	pə	not
	pjuw	pə	不律 writing brush (pron. in Wú 吳 ap. Shuōwén; E. Hàn)

說文解字

《說文》：“不，鳥飛上翔不下來也。从一，一猶天也。象形。”

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)

shī wet Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 显 represents the sound. Simplified form of 濕.

Components

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

显 Sound component

xiǎn evident, make visible, clear

Change in sound

湿 and 显 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.

Sources

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

xié shoes

Phonosemantic compound. 革 represents the meaning and 圭 represents the sound.

Components

革 Meaning component

gé leather

圭 Sound component

guī jade pointed at top

Change in sound

鞋 and 圭 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
鞋 *[g]ˤre (no pre-Qín exx.)
圭 *[k]ʷˤe

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	hea	[g]ˤre (no pre-Qín exx.)	shoe

Sources

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

biān, bian edge Traditional

Phonosemantic compound with two sound components and two meaning components. 辶 and 方 represent the meaning, while 自 and 丙 represent the sound.

Components

自 Sound component

zì (nose), self

自 was the original form of 鼻 (bí; nose).

丙 Sound component

bǐng third

方 Meaning component

fāng, fang square

辶 Meaning component

chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	pen	pˤe[n]	side

Sources

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

shī wet Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 㬎 represents the sound.

Components

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ water

water

㬎 Sound component

xiǎn visible, bright

Change in sound

濕 and 㬎 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
濕 *[qʰ]ip
㬎 *qʰˤenʔ

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	syip	[qʰ]ip	to flap (sc. the ears)

說文解字

《說文》：“濕，水。出東郡東武陽，入海。从水，聲。桑欽云：出平原高唐。”

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)

常 cháng common

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

在 zài be at

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

河 hé river

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

边 biān, bian edge Simplified

Components

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

走 zǒu walk

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Meaning (8 of 20 verified)

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

哪 nǎ, na which? where? how?

Components

Sources

有 yǒu have

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (1 of 9 verified)

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

不 bù, bu no

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (3 of 5 verified)

Simplified (4)

Meaning (1 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

湿 shī wet Simplified

Components

Sources

鞋 xié shoes

Components

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

邊 biān, bian edge Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

濕 shī wet Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

cháng common

zài be at

hé river

biān, bian edge Simplified

zǒu walk

nǎ, na which? where? how?

yǒu have

bù, bu no

shī wet Simplified

xié shoes

biān, bian edge Traditional

shī wet Traditional