引吭高歌
yǐn​háng​gāo​gē

belt out

引 yǐn to pull

Pictograph of a bowstring being pulled back.

Components

弓
弓 Iconic component
gōng bow
丨
丨 Iconic component
gǔn, shù vertical line

Depicts a bowstring being pulled back.


Character Evolution

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 Qin 221-206 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 (0 of 2 verified)

蚓吲

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

吲矧

Iconic (1)

秀

Remnant (1)

秀

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartyinXli[n]ʔ draw the bow
yinHli[n]ʔ-s draw the bow

說文解字

《說文》：“引，開弓也。从弓、丨。”

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)

吭 kēng throat

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

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
亢
亢 Sound component
kàng, gāng, gēng high

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangɡaːŋ
ɡaːŋʔ
ɡaːŋs

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

高 gāo high

Pictograph of a tall building.

Components

京
京 Iconic component
jīng capital city

Pictograph of a tall building.

口
口 Distinguishing component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 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 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 (6 of 18 verified)

毫搞乔豪稿敲膏镐蒿槁篙犒缟縞暠喬鎬槀

Meaning (3 of 4 verified)

乔嵩臺喬

Remnant (2)

毫臺

Simplified (1)

乔

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkawCə.[k]ˤaw high, tall

說文解字

《說文》：“高，崇也，象臺觀高之形。从冂、口，與倉舍同意。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.448
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

歌 gē, ge song

Originally depicted a person carrying an axe while singing. Now a phonosemantic compound. 欠 (pictograph of a person opening their mouth) represents the meaning and 哥 represents the sound.

Components

哥
哥 Sound component
gē, ge elder brother

Originally depicted an axe being carried. Later reanalyzed into phonetic component 哥.

欠
欠 Iconic component
qiàn, qian yawn, deficient

Depicts a person opening their mouth.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartka[k]ˤaj sing, song

說文解字

《說文》：“歌，詠也。从欠，哥聲。謌，謌（歌）或从言。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.696
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)