nián​yǐ​cuō​tuó

years wasted

nián year

Original meaning: harvest

Pictograph of a person () harvesting grain (). The harvest season is a yearly event.

Components

Iconic component
grain stalk
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Iconic component
rén, ren person
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnenC.nˤi[ŋ] harvest; year

說文解字

《說文》:“年,穀孰也。从禾,千聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.574-575
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

already

Original meaning: a type of snake creature

Derived from . Depicts a snake-like creature. Based on the original meaning "a type of snake creature". The current meaning "already" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Simplified (1)

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartyiXɢ(r)əʔ cease; already

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.979
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

cuō error

A footstep  in error  also provides the pronunciation

Components

Meaning component
foot
SoundMeaning component
chà, chā, chāi to differ

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsʰlaːl
Unicodetsɑ

說文解字

蹉跎,失時也。从足差聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

tuó slip

Components

Meaning component
foot

foot

Sound component
it

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangl'aːl
Unicodedhɑ

說文解字

蹉跎也。从足它聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica