或许
huò​xǔ HSK4

perhaps

或 huò or

Original meaning: area

Depicts using a weapon (戈) to defend an area (囗) in a boundary (一). Based on the original meaning "area", now written as 域. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

囗
囗 Iconic component
wéi, guó surround

Depicts an area of land.

戈
戈 Iconic component
gē spear

Depicts a weapon.

一
一 Iconic component
yī one

Depicts a boundary.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 5 verified)

域惑蜮馘國

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

阈閾

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthwok[ɢ]ʷˤək some; or
hwik[ɢ]ʷrək territory

說文解字

《說文》：“或，邦也。从囗，从戈以守一。一，地也。域，或又从土。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.864黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.40
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

许 xǔ allow Simplified

Simplified form of 許. Phonosemantic compound. 讠 represents the meaning and 午 represents the sound.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

午
午 Sound component
wǔ, wu noon

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

浒

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

許 xǔ allow Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 午 represents the sound.

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
午
午 Sound component
wǔ, wu noon

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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
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
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

滸

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartxuXqʰˤaʔ 許許 (~ 滸滸 ~ 所所) sound of hewing wood (Mao 165.3)
xjoXqʰ(r)aʔ place (n.)
xjoXqʰ(r)aʔ allow

說文解字

《說文》：“許，聽也。从言，午聲。”

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)