持橐簪笔
chí​tuó​zān​bǐ

serve as counselor

持 chí sustain

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

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

寺
寺 Sound component
sì, shì temple

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdri[d]rə grasp, hold

說文解字

《說文》：“持，握也。从手，寺聲。”

Sources

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

橐 tuó, dù, luò a sack

Pictograph of a bag with both ends tied. Similar in origin to 東 and 束. 石 represents the sound. As a component in other characters, 石 is almost always omitted.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a bag with both ends tied.

石
石 Sound component
shí stone
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (1)

囊

Remnant (1)

囊

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

蠹

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartthaktʰˤak sack; bellows

說文解字

《說文》：“橐，囊也。从省，石聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.514-515李学勤《字源》p.557裘錫圭 "Chinese Writing" p.240
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

簪 zān hairpin

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 朁 represents the sound.

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

朁
朁 Sound component
cǎn, qián, jiàn if

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsomCə.tsˤ[ə]m hairpin
tsrimtsr[ə]m hairpin

說文解字

《說文》：“兂，首筓也。从人、匕，象簪形。簪，俗兂。从竹，从朁。”

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)

笔 bǐ writing utensil Simplified

Simplified form of 筆. Depicts a utensil for writing (聿) made from bamboo (⺮).

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

毛
毛 MeaningSimplified component
máo, mao hair

Shorthand for the 聿 component in the traditional character 筆.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

滗

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

筆 bǐ writing utensil Traditional

Depicts a utensil for writing (聿) made from bamboo (⺮).

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

聿
聿 Meaning component
yù writing brush

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpitp.[r]ut (borrowed as *prut from Qín dialect)writing brush

說文解字

《說文》：“筆，秦謂之筆。从聿，从竹。”

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)