改则县 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

gǎi change

Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 己 represents the sound.

Components

jǐ self

Change in sound

改 and 己 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
改 kojX
己 kiX

攵 Meaning component

pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

Character Evolution

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kojX	C.qˤəʔ	change (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“改，更也。从攴、己。”

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)

zé rule Simplified

Original meaning: law

Simplified form of 則. Depicts carving inscriptions on bronzeware (鼎) with a knife (刂). Based on the original meaning "law". In ancient China, some legal writings were inscribed on bronzeware.

Components

鼎 Iconic Remnant component

dǐng, zhēn cooking pot

Modern form looks like unrelated 贝.

刂 Iconic component

dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Component uses

Sources

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

xiàn county Simplified

Original meaning: suspend, hang

Simplified form of 縣. Pictograph of a severed head (首) hanging on a rope (系) from a tree (木). Based on the original meaning "hang" or "suspend". The current meaning is a phonetic loan. The traditional component 系 was removed for simplification.

Components

首 Iconic component

shǒu head

Depicts a severed head.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 首 than it was in ancient scripts.

木 Iconic component

mù tree

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 木 than it was in ancient scripts.

系 Deleted component

xì, xi, jì system

Depicts a rope. The traditional component 系 was removed for simplification.

Component uses

Sound (1)

悬

Iconic (1)

悬

Sources

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

zé rule Traditional

Original meaning: law

Depicts carving inscriptions on bronzeware (鼎) with a knife (刂). Based on the original meaning "law". In ancient China, some legal writings were inscribed on bronzeware.

Components

鼎 Iconic Remnant component

dǐng, zhēn cooking pot

Modern form looks like unrelated 貝.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 鼎 than it was in ancient scripts.

刂 Iconic component

dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (3 of 6 verified)

賊測惻廁側鰂

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsok	[ts]ˤək	then
	tsok	[ts]ˤək	rule, pattern

說文解字

《說文》：“則，等畫物也。从刀，从貝。貝，古之物貨也。，古文則。，亦古文則。，籀文則从鼎。”

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)

xiàn county Traditional

Original meaning: suspend, hang

Pictograph of a severed head (首) hanging on a rope (系) from a tree (木). Based on the original meaning "hang" or "suspend", now written as 懸. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

首 Iconic component

shǒu head

Depicts a severed head.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 首 than it was in ancient scripts.

木 Iconic component

mù tree

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 木 than it was in ancient scripts.

系 Iconic component

xì, xi, jì system

Depicts a rope.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (1)

懸

Iconic (1)

懸

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	hwenH	Cə.[g]ʷˤe[n]-s	district
	hwen	[g]ʷˤe[n]	suspend

說文解字

《說文》：“縣，繫也。从系持。”

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)

改 gǎi change

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

则 zé rule Simplified

Components

Component uses

Sound (3 of 7 verified)

Remnant (1)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

县 xiàn county Simplified

Components

Component uses

Sound (1)

Iconic (1)

Sources

則 zé rule Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (3 of 6 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

縣 xiàn county Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (1)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

gǎi change

zé rule Simplified

xiàn county Simplified

zé rule Traditional

xiàn county Traditional