捡了芝麻丢了西瓜
jiǎn​le​zhī​ma​diū​le​xī​guā

penny-wise

捡 jiǎn to pick up Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 佥 represents the sound. Simplified form of 撿.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

佥
佥 Sound component
qiān together

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

了 le, liǎo, liào finish

Original meaning: armless child

Pictograph of a young child, similar to 子, but without arms. Compare to 孑 (child only with right arm) and 孓 (child only with left arm). The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

子
子 IconicRemnant component
zi, zǐ child

A child (子) without arms.


Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

疗辽钌

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangreːwʔ
Unicodeleǔ
leǔ

說文解字

《說文》：“了，尦也。从子無臂，象形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.972
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

芝 zhī sesame

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

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

之
之 Sound component
zhī [attributive particle]

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangtjɯ

說文解字

神艸也。从艸从之。

Sources

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

麻 má, ma hemp

Depicts hemp leaves (𣏟) growing under a cliff (厂). The cliff (厂) component was later written as 广.

Components

厂
厂 Iconic component
chǎng cliff, (roof)

Depicts a cliff.

𣏟
𣏟 Iconic component
pài hemp

Depicts hemp leaves.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Xin 9-23 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (5 of 8 verified)

摩魔磨嘛麽靡糜麼

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

縻

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmaeC.mˤraj hemp

說文解字

《說文》：“麻，與同。人所治，在屋下。从广，从。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.585-586
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

丢 diū lose, discard Simplified

A horizontal line, depicting an item being discarded, added to the semantically similar character 去 (leave; go).

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts an item being discarded.

去
去 Meaning component
qù go away

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

铥

Sources

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

西 xi, xī west

西 was written two different ways in ancient scripts: (1) a pictograph of a bird's nest, and (2) a variant of the phonetically similar 囟.

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
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 Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 10 verified)

牺洒栖茜哂硒溧舾粞恓

Simplified (1)

晒

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsejs-nˤər west
sejs-nˤər west

說文解字

《說文》：“西，鳥在巢上，象形。日在西方而鳥棲，故因以為東西之西。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.831-832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)

瓜 guā melon

Depicts a melon hanging from a vine.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 6 verified)

孤狐弧呱胍觚

Meaning (1 of 6 verified)

瓣瓢瓤瓠瓞㼌

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwaekʷˤra melon, gourd

說文解字

《說文》：“瓜，也。象形。”

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)

撿 jiǎn to pick up Traditional

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

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

僉
僉 Sound component
together

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangɡ·ramʔ
kramʔ

說文解字

拱也。从手僉聲。

Sources

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

丟 diū lose, discard Traditional

A horizontal line, depicting an item being discarded, added to the semantically similar character 去 (leave; go).

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts an item being discarded.

去
去 Meaning component
qù go away

Sources

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