弘旨

弘 hóng vast

Original meaning: loud sound

Phonosemantic compound. 弓 represents the sound and 口 represents the original meaning "loud sound". The meaning later extended to "great", "vast".

Components

弓
弓 Sound component
gōng bow
口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
Change in meaning
口 hints at the original meaning of 弘, "loud sound", which is no longer the most common meaning of 弘 in modern Mandarin.
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 口 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 Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 (1)

泓

Meaning (1)

泓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthwong[ɢ]ʷˤəŋ vast

說文解字

《說文》：“弘，弓聲也。从弓，厶聲。厶，古文肱字。”

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)

旨 zhǐ purpose

Original meaning: fine-tasting

Depicts a spoon (匕) going into the mouth (口), conveying the original meaning "fine-tasting". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

匕
匕 Iconic component
bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)
口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth

Depicts food inside the mouth.


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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 8 verified)

指脂稽诣耆酯詣鮨

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

诣詣

Iconic (1)

嘗

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyijXkijʔ fine-tasting

說文解字

《說文》：“旨，美也。从甘，匕聲。，古文旨。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.396-397
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)