按下葫芦浮起瓢
àn​xià​hú​lú​fú​qǐ​piáo

unending problems

按 àn press, push

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

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

安
安 Sound component
ān peaceful

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'anHʔˤa[n]-s repress

說文解字

《說文》：“按，下也。从手，安聲。”

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)

下 xià, xia under

Originally a small line or dot below a longer line, indicating "down". The vertical line was added to distinguish the character from 二 (two). Opposite of 上.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Jin 266-420 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

吓虾

Iconic (1)

卡

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

忑

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthaeXgˤraʔ down
haeHm-gˤraʔ-s descend

說文解字

《說文》：“丅，底也。指事。下，篆文丅。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.47
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

葫 hú bottle-gourd

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 胡 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

胡
胡 Sound component
hú beard

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthu[ɡ]ˤagourd
Zhengzhangqʰaː
ɡaː

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang

芦 lú, lu rushes Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 户 represents the sound. Simplified form of 蘆.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

户
户 Sound component
hù, hu door

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

浮 fú to float

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

water

孚
孚 Sound component
fú captive

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjuwm.b(r)ufloat (v.)
Zhengzhangbu
Unicodebhiou

說文解字

氾也。从水孚聲。

Sources

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

起 qǐ go up

Phonosemantic compound. 走 represents the meaning and 己 represents the sound.

Components

走
走 Meaning component
zǒu walk
己
己 Sound component
jǐ self

Character Evolution

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 Qin 221-206 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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhiXC.qʰ(r)əʔ rise (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“起，能立也。从走，巳聲。，古文起，从辵。”

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)

瓢 piáo ladle made from dried gourd

Phonosemantic compound. 瓜 represents the meaning and 票 represents the sound.

Components

瓜
瓜 Meaning component
guā melon
票
票 Sound component
piào slip of paper or bamboo

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjiew(Cə.)[b]ewgourd
Zhengzhangbew
Unicodebhiɛu

說文解字

蠡也。从瓠省，㶾聲。

Sources

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

蘆 lú, lu rushes Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 盧 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

盧
盧 Sound component
rice vessel

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartluC.rˤalúwěi 蘆葦 reed
Zhengzhangraː
ra
Unicodelo

說文解字

蘆菔也。一曰薺根。从艸盧聲。

Sources

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