Original meaning: weapon
Pictograph of a weapon with a forked blade and long handle. The meaning "I; me" is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ngaX | ŋˤajʔ | we, I |
說文解字
《說文》：“我，施身自謂也。或說我，頃頓也。从戈，从。，或說古垂字。一曰古殺字。，古文我。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.867
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: conflict
Phonosemantic compound. 非 represents the meaning and 告 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "conflict". The meaning later shifted to "lean against".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Old Chinese | |
|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | kʰuːɡs |
說文解字
《說文》：“靠，相違也。从非，告聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Zhengzhang Shangfang
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)