Original meaning: straighten
Depicts rope wrapped around two pieces of wood to keep them straight. Based on the original meaning "straighten". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pjut | p[u]t | (negation) |
| pjut | put | gust of wind | |
| pjut | put | writing brush (pron. in Yān 燕, ap. Shuōwén, E. Hàn) |
說文解字
《說文》：“弗，撟也。从丿，从，从韋省。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.856-857李学勤《字源》p.1104
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: solid, difficult to break
Depicts a hook-shaped weapon made out of copper. Based on the original meaning "solid, difficult to break". The meaning later shifted to "good" and "lucky".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kjit | C.qi[t] (*C.q- > *k-, escaping palatalization) | auspicious |
說文解字
《說文》：“吉，善也。从士、口。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.98-99漢語多功能字庫林志強《《文源》評注》p.93-94
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: stop; approach
Depicts one person (匕) carrying another person (尸) on their back. Based on the original meaning "stop; approach". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nejX | nˤərʔ | to stop |
| nejH | nˤərʔ-s | to stop, obstruct | |
| nrij | nr[əj] | near, close |
說文解字
《說文》：“尼，從後近之。从尸，匕聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.675-676
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
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.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Sound (0 of 1 verified)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | |
|---|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | qoːwɢ | |
| Unicode | qok |
說文解字
《說文》：“，溉灌也。从水，芺聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Zhengzhang Shangfang
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Simplified
Simplified form of 爾. Pictograph of a weapon with a sharp head and tail decorations on the end. Similar in origin to 朿. Original meaning unclear.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nyeX | n[ə][r]ʔ | you(r) |
說文解字
《說文》：“尒，詞之必然也。从入、丨、八，八象气之分散。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.259董蓮池《說文解字考正》p.129
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Pictograph of a man. The top horizontal stroke either distinguishes it from the character 大 or depicts a hairpin, something that was only worn by adults.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pju | p(r)a | man |
| bju | [b]a | this, that | |
| bju | ba | final particle |
說文解字
《說文》：“夫，丈夫也。从大，一以象簪也。周制以八寸為尺，十尺為丈，人長八尺，故曰丈夫。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫林志強《《文源》評注》p.2
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
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
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'aeH | ʔˤrak-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)
Traditional
Pictograph of a weapon with a sharp head and tail decorations on the end. Similar in origin to 朿. Original meaning unclear.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nejX | nˤ[ə][r]ʔ | numerous |
| nyeX | n[ə][r]ʔ | (adv. suffix) | |
| nyeX | n[ə][r]ʔ | you(r) |
說文解字
《說文》：“爾，麗爾，猶靡麗也。从冂，从，其孔；尒聲。此與爽同意。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.259董蓮池《說文解字考正》p.129
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)