Original meaning: city
Depicts defending city walls (丁) with an axe (戌). 丁 also represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "city", now written as 城. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Depicts city walls.
Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 丁 than it was in ancient scripts.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dzyeng | [d]eŋ | to become (v.i.) |
| dzyeng | m-[d]eŋ | to complete (tr. v) |
說文解字
《說文》：“成，就也。从戊，丁聲。，古文成从午。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.963-964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)
Pictograph of the side view of a standing person.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nyin | ni[ŋ] | (other) person |
說文解字
《說文》：“人，天地之性最貴者也。此籀文，象臂脛之形。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.630
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: bucket
Depicts a bucket with a handle on the right side. Based on the original meaning "bucket". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "use".
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | yowngH | loŋ-s | use (v.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“用，可施行也。从卜，从中。衛宏說。，古文用。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.253-254漢語多功能字庫林志強《《文源》評注》p.367
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Triple of 口. Depicts several types of things together.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | phimX | pʰr[ə]mʔ | kind, class |
說文解字
《說文》：“品，眾庶也。从三口。”
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)