攘外安内
rǎng​wài'ān​nèi

resist and pacify

攘 rǎng, ràng, níng seize

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

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

襄
襄 Sound component
xiāng aid

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnyangnaŋoppose, disturb; steal; expel
nyangXnaŋʔoppose; disturb
Zhengzhangnjaŋ
njaŋʔ
njaŋs

說文解字

推也。从手襄聲。

Sources

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

外 wài outside

Phonosemantic compound. 卜 represents the meaning and 月 represents the sound.

Components

卜
卜 Iconic component
bo fortune telling

Depicts the cracks on the outside of a turtle shell.

月
月 Sound component
yuè, yue moon

Looks like 夕, which is also a pictograph of a moon.

Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 月 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngwajH[ŋ]ʷˤa[t]-s outside

說文解字

《說文》：“外，遠也。卜尚平旦，今夕卜，於事外矣。，古文外。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.555-556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)

安 ān peaceful

Depicts a woman (女) sitting under a roof (宀). Older forms of this character depict a person kneeling with a mark on their thigh and shin to indicate sitting.

Components

宀
宀 Iconic component
mián roof
女
女 Iconic component
nǚ, nü woman

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
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 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
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 (3 of 9 verified)

案按氨鞍胺晏铵桉銨

Meaning (1)

晏

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'an[ʔ]ˤa[n] peace(ful)
'an[ʔ]ˤa[n] how
'an[ʔ]ˤa[n] 安息 Ānxī (Iranian country in the western regions, W. Hàn; from Aršaka = Arsaces, founder of the Arsacid dynasty)

說文解字

《說文》：“安，靜也。从女在宀下。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫徐超《古漢字通解500例》p.1-2
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

内 nèi inside Simplified

Depicts a person (人) inside a building (冂).

Components

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person
冂
冂 Iconic component
jiōng, jiǒng large room

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (5 of 13 verified)

纳呐钠讷芮衲蚋肭納枘鈉㕯訥

說文解字

《說文》：“內，入也。从口，自外而入也。”

Sources

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

內 nèi inside Traditional

Depicts an entrance (入) to go inside a building (冂).

Components

入
入 Iconic component
rù enter
冂
冂 Iconic component
jiōng, jiǒng large room

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

吶

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnopnˤ[u]p bring or send in
nwojHnˤ[u]p-s inside

說文解字

《說文》：“內，入也。从口，自外而入也。”

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)