Original meaning: helmet worn by warriors
Depicts a person with a face (皃) wearing a helmet. Based on the original meaning "helmet worn by warriors". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "pouch".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tuw | tˤo | helmet, hood |
說文解字
《說文》：“兜，兜鍪，首鎧也。从，从皃省。皃，象人頭也。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫林志強《《文源》評注》p.98
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Simplified
Character Evolution
Component uses
說文解字
《說文》：“儿，仁人也。古文奇字人也。象形。孔子曰：在人下，故詰屈。”
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Pictograph of a child (人) with an opening in the top of its head (囟). Represents the soft spot (fontanel) at the top of young infant heads. The 囟 component is written like 臼.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nye | ŋe | child |
說文解字
《說文》：“兒，孺子也。从儿，象小兒頭囟未合。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.687
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)