悠哉悠哉
yōu​zāi​yōu​zāi

leisurely

悠 yōu long

Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 攸 represents the sound.

Components

心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart
攸
攸 Sound component
yōu distant

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyuwliwlong-brooding
Zhengzhanglɯw
Unicodeiou

說文解字

憂也。从心攸聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

哉 zāi final exclamatory particle

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth

mouth

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsoj[ts]ˤəbegin; (particle)
Zhengzhangʔslɯː

說文解字

言之閒也。从口𢦔聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)