敬辞 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

jìngcí

honorific

jìng respect

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

Components

茍 Sound Meaning component

jì, jí to be circumspect

攵 Meaning component

pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

Character Evolution

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 Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Qin 221-206 BC

Seal form — Seal Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (2 of 5 verified)

警擎儆檠驚

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kjaengH	kreŋ(ʔ)-s	respectful

說文解字

《說文》：“敬，肅也。从攴、茍。”

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)

cí words Simplified

Simplified form of 辭. Alludes to a governance (𤔔) dispute related to criminal law (辛). Based on the original meaning "litigation". The meaning later shifted to "words".

Components

舌 Simplified component

shé tongue

Shorthand for the 𤔔 component in the traditional character 亂.

辛 Meaning component

xīn laborious

Character Evolution

Clerical form — Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD

Regular Modern

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Sources

Character origin: 李学勤《字源》p.1277
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical images: Academia Sinica

cí words Traditional

Original meaning: litigation

Alludes to a governance (𤔔) dispute related to criminal law (辛). Based on the original meaning "litigation". The meaning later shifted to "words".

Components

𤔔 Meaning component

luàn (untangle threads), to govern

辛 Meaning component

xīn laborious

Character Evolution

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Seal form — Seal Qin 221-206 BC

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	zi	sə.lə	words

說文解字

《說文》：“辭，訟也。从，猶理辜也。，理也。，籀文辭从司。”

Sources

Character origin: 李学勤《字源》p.1277
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)