扑朔迷离
pū​shuò​mí​lí

confusing

扑 pū pound Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 卜 represents the sound. Simplified form of 撲.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

卜
卜 Sound component
bo fortune telling

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpʰoːɡ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

朔 shuò first day of lunar month

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

Components

月
月 Meaning component
yuè, yue moon
屰
屰 Sound component
nì, pò, jí disobedient
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Xin 9-23 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 6 verified)

塑嗍槊蒴搠愬

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

溯

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsraewks-ŋrak 1st day of month

說文解字

《說文》：“朔，月一日始蘇也。从月，屰聲。”

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)

迷 mí get lost, go astray

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 米 represents the sound.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

米
米 Sound component
mǐ rice

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

谜醚瞇謎

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmejmˤij go astray

說文解字

或也。从辵米聲。

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)

离 lí leave Simplified

Depicts using a net (𠦒) to catch prey in a forest (林). 林 also represents the sound. In simplified Chinese 离 is also used to mean "leave", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 離.

Components

林
林 SoundIconic component
lín forest
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 林 than it was in ancient scripts.
𠦒
𠦒 Iconic component
bān net for catching birds or rabbits

Depicts a net. Similar to 禽.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 10 verified)

璃篱漓魑螭缡蓠褵縭樆

Meaning (1)

魑

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttrhjer̥aj mountain demon

說文解字

《說文》：“离，山神獸也。从禽頭，从厹，从屮。歐陽喬說：‘离，猛獸也。’”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.954林志強《《文源》評注》p.7漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.1268-1269陳靖《兩周古文字編注》p.2182
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

撲 pū to beat Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 扌represents the meaning and 菐 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

hand

菐
菐 SoundMeaning component
pú (beat against), tedious

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartphuwkpʰˤok beat (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“撲，挨也。从手，菐聲。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

離 lí leave Traditional

Original meaning: catch a bird

Depicts a bird (隹) being caught in a bird trap (罕). Based on the original meaning "catch a bird". The meaning later shifted to "reject", "separate", and "leave".

Components

罕
罕 Iconic component
hǎn, hàn rare

Depicts a bird trap.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 罕 than it was in ancient scripts.
隹
隹 Iconic component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

籬蘺

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlje[r]aj meet with, encounter
lje[r]aj depart from
ljeHraj-s reject

說文解字

《說文》：“離，離黃，倉庚也。鳴則蠶生。从隹，离聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.954
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)