掩耳盗铃
yǎn'ěr​dào​líng

self-deception

掩 yǎn to cover (with the hand)

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

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

奄
奄 SoundMeaning component
yǎn, yān to enclose

奄 also represents the meaning.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangqromʔ
Unicodeqyɛ̌m

說文解字

《說文》：“掩，斂也，小上曰掩。从手，奄聲。”

Sources

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

耳 ěr ear

Pictograph of an ear.

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
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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
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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (13 of 29 verified)

联职闻聪聊耸耻聘耽聋聆珥耷聒聩聃佴聱聽聍耵聲聞聯職聰聵聾聳

Sound (0 of 7 verified)

饵茸珥洱铒佴餌

Iconic (5)

取聂聖聶咠

Unknown (0 of 2 verified)

耿恥

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnyiXC.nəʔ ear
nyiXnəʔ #NAME?

說文解字

《說文》：“耳，主聽也。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)

盗 dào rob Simplified

Simplified form of 盜. Depicts a gluttonous person drooling (㳄) for food inside of a dish (皿). The meaning later shifted to "steal", "rob", and "bandit".

Components

㳄
㳄 IconicRemnant component
xián spit, saliva

Depicts saliva (氵) coming from a person with an open mouth (欠). Modern form looks like 次.

皿
皿 Iconic component
mǐn, mǐng dish

Depicts a dish with food in it.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫中華語文知識庫zi.tools
Readings & variants
Unicode

铃 líng bell Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 令 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鈴.

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

令
令 Sound component
lìng command

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

盜 dào rob Traditional

Depicts a gluttonous person drooling (㳄) for food inside of a dish (皿). The meaning later shifted to "steal", "rob", and "bandit".

Components

㳄
㳄 Iconic component
xián spit, saliva

Depicts saliva (氵) coming from a person with an open mouth (欠).

皿
皿 Iconic component
mǐn, mǐng dish

Depicts a dish with food in it.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdawH[d]ˤaw(k)-s steal

說文解字

《說文》：“盜，私利物也。从，欲皿者。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫中華語文知識庫zi.tools
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

鈴 líng bell Traditional

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

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal

釒 is a component form of 金.

令
令 Sound component
lìng command

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangreːŋ
Unicodeleng

說文解字

令丁也。从金从令，令亦聲。

Sources

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