指南针 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

zhǐnánzhēn HSK7

compass

zhǐ, zhí, zhī finger

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

Components

扌 Meaning component

shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

旨 Sound component

zhǐ purpose

Character Evolution

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 Qin 221-206 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsyijX	mə.kijʔ	finger; point

說文解字

《說文》：“指，手指也。从手，旨聲。”

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)

nán south

Original meaning: musical instrument

Depicts a bell-shaped musical instrument. The current meaning of 南 is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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

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

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

喃楠罱蝻腩

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	nom	nˤ[ə]m	south

說文解字

《說文》：“南，艸木至南方有枝任也。从，聲。，古文。”

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)

zhēn needle Simplified

Simplified form of 針. Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 十 represents the sound.

Components

钅 Meaning component

jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

十 Sound component

shí ten

Change in sound

针 and 十 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
针 *t.[k]əm
十 *t.[g]əp

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode

zhēn needle Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 釒 represents the meaning and 十 represents the sound.

Components

釒 Meaning component

jīn metal

十 Sound component

shí ten

Change in sound

針 and 十 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
針 *t.[k]əm
十 *t.[g]əp

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsyim	t.[k]əm	needle

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart