意料之外
yì​liào​zhī​wài HSK7

unexpected

意 yì, yi thought

Thought (意) is the sound (音) that comes from the mind (心). (Oversimplified for brevity. The 音 component in this character has a complicated history.)

Components

音
音 Meaning component
yīn sound
心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 7 verified)

臆噫薏癔镱憶億

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

臆

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'iHʔ(r)ək-s thought (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“意，志也。从心察言而知意也。从心，从音。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.790-791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)

料 liào ingredients

Depicts a ladle (斗) full of rice (米).

Components

米
米 Iconic component
mǐ rice
斗
斗 Iconic component
dòu ladle

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlewH[r]ˤew-s measure (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“料，量也。从斗，米在其中。”

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)

之 zhī [attributive particle]

Original meaning: go forwards

Pictograph of a foot (止) going out of an area. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

止
止 SoundIconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 止 than it was in ancient scripts.
一
一 Iconic component
yī one

Used here to depict an area.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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 (2 of 3 verified)

志寺芝

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyitə go to
tsyitə (3p object pronoun; attributive particle)

說文解字

《說文》：“之，出也。象艸過屮，枝莖益大有所之。一者，地也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.498-499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)

外 wài outside

Phonosemantic compound. 卜 represents the meaning and 月 represents the sound.

Components

卜
卜 Iconic component
bo fortune telling

Depicts the cracks on the outside of a turtle shell.

月
月 Sound component
yuè, yue moon

Looks like 夕, which is also a pictograph of a moon.

Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 月 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngwajH[ŋ]ʷˤa[t]-s outside

說文解字

《說文》：“外，遠也。卜尚平旦，今夕卜，於事外矣。，古文外。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.555-556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)