抛砖引玉
pāo​zhuān​yǐn​yù

initiate discussion

抛 pāo throw (away) Simplified

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

hand

尥
尥 SoundRemnant component
liào, niǎo to kick backward with the hind legs

Historical Pronunciations

Middle Chinese
Unicodepau

說文解字

棄也。从手从尤从力，或从手𠠵聲。案：《左氏傳》通用摽。《詩》：“摽有梅。”摽，落也。義亦同。

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

砖 zhuān tile Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 石 represents the meaning and 专 represents the sound. Simplified form of 磚.

Components

石
石 Meaning component
shí stone
专
专 Sound component
zhuān monopolize

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

引 yǐn to pull

Pictograph of a bowstring being pulled back.

Components

弓
弓 Iconic component
gōng bow
丨
丨 Iconic component
gǔn, shù vertical line

Depicts a bowstring being pulled back.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

蚓吲

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

吲矧

Iconic (1)

秀

Remnant (1)

秀

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartyinXli[n]ʔ draw the bow
yinHli[n]ʔ-s draw the bow

說文解字

《說文》：“引，開弓也。从弓、丨。”

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)

玉 yù jade

Pictograph of a ritual object made out of several pieces of jade joined together by a string. A dot was later added to 玉 to distinguish it from 王 (king).

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a ritual object made out of several pieces of jade joined together by a string.

丶
丶 Distinguishing component
zhǔ dot

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 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 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

Component uses

Meaning (2 of 8 verified)

莹璧玺钰璺鈺璽瑩

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

国钰鈺

Iconic (3)

宝弄珏

Simplified (1)

国

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngjowk[ŋ](r)ok (< uvular?) jade

說文解字

《說文》：“玉，石之美。有五德：潤澤以溫，仁之方也；理自外，可以知中，義之方也；其聲舒揚，專以遠聞，智之方也；不橈而折，勇之方也；銳廉而不技，絜之方也。象三玉之連，丨，其貫也。，古文玉。”

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)

拋 pāo throw (away) Traditional

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

hand

尥
尥 SoundRemnant component
liào, niǎo to kick backward with the hind legs

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpʰreːw
pʰreːws

說文解字

《說文新附》：“拋，棄也。从手，从尤〔尢〕，从力；或从手，聲。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

磚 zhuān tile Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 石 represents the meaning and 專 represents the sound.

Components

石
石 Meaning component
shí stone
專
專 Sound component
zhuān monopolize

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangtjon

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang