惟利是图 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

wéi but

Original meaning: to think

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 隹 represents the sound. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

忄 Meaning component

xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

Change in meaning

忄 hints at the original meaning of 惟, "to think", which is no longer the most common meaning of 惟 in modern Mandarin.

隹 Sound component

zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Change in sound

惟 and 隹 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
惟 ywij
隹 tsywij

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	ywij	ɢʷij	(copula); namely

說文解字

《說文》：“惟，凡思也。从心，隹聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 李学勤《字源》p.932
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

lì, li benefit

Depicts harvesting grain (禾) with a blade (刂). Harvest was the main source of profit in agricultural societies.

Components

禾 Iconic component

hé grain stalk

刂 Iconic component

dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Qin 221-206 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (3 of 11 verified)

黎莉梨犁俐痢蜊猁脷唎悧

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	lijH	C.ri[t]-s	sharp; profit

說文解字

《說文》：“利，銛也。从刀；和然後利，从和省。《易》曰：‘利者，義之和也。’”

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)

shì, shi is

Origin unclear. The bottom component 止 represents the sound.

Components

旦 Unknown component

dàn dawn

The purpose of this component is unclear.

止 Sound component

zhǐ (foot), stop

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Qin 221-206 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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

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

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (6 of 13 verified)

提题堤匙題缇醍鞮鳀隄緹鯷踶

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dzyeX	[d]eʔ	this

說文解字

《說文》：“是，直也。从日、正。昰，籀文是，从古文正。”

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)

tú map Simplified

Simplified form of 圖. Depicts a map of city boundaries (囗) and places outside the city boundaries (啚).

Components

囗 Iconic component

wéi, guó surround

Depicts walls of a city.

冬 Simplified component

dōng winter

Shorthand for the 啚 component in the traditional character 圖.

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode

tú map Traditional

Depicts a map of city boundaries (囗) and places outside the city boundaries (啚).

Components

囗 Iconic component

wéi, guó surround

Depicts walls of a city.

啚 Iconic component

bǐ, tú remote place

Depicts a granary outside city walls.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	du	[d]ˤa	consider

說文解字

《說文》：“圖，畫計難也。从口，从啚。啚，難意也。”

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)