niē​jǐ​zhì​liáo

chiropractic

niē pick with fingers

Components

Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

hand

Sound component
niè

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangniːɡ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

spine

Originally was a pictograph of a fish spine. Later changed into a phonosemantic compound with ⺼ representing the meaning and representing the sound.

Components

Sound component
thorn, stab
Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of .

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsjek[ts]ek spine, backbone

說文解字

《說文》:“脊,背呂也。从,从肉。”

Sources

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

zhì govern

Original meaning: river in Shandong

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Originally referred to a river in Shandong province. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

is a component form of .

Sound component
tái platform
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdriC.lrə regulate, arrange
driHlrə-s regulate, arrange

說文解字

《說文》:“治,水。出東萊曲城陽丘山,南入海。从水,台聲。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

liáo be healed Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

Meaning component
sick
Sound component
le, liǎo, liào finish

Sources

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

liáo be healed Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
sick
Sound component
liào, liáo burnt offering

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangrews

說文解字

《說文》:“,治也。从疒,樂聲。療或从尞。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica