新冠肺炎
xīn​guān​fèi​yán

COVID-19

新 xīn new

Original meaning: firewood

Phonosemantic component. 辛 represents the sound, and 斤 (axe) and 木 (tree) represent the original meaning "firewood", now written as 薪. The meaning later shifted to "fresh" and "new".

Components

辛
辛 Sound component
xīn laborious
木
木 Iconic component
mù tree

Depicts a tree being cut for firewood.

Change in meaning
木 hints at the original meaning of 新, "firewood", which is no longer the most common meaning of 新 in modern Mandarin.
斤
斤 Iconic component
jīn axe

Depicts an axe cutting a tree for firewood.

Change in meaning
斤 hints at the original meaning of 新, "firewood", which is no longer the most common meaning of 新 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

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 Warring States ~400 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

薪

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsins.tsʰi[n] new

說文解字

《說文》：“新，取木也。从斤，新聲。”

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)

冠 guān, guàn cap

Pictograph of a person (元) wearing a hat (冃). 元 also represents the sound. The 寸 (hand) component was added later to possibly indicate the hat is being held and put onto the head.

Components

冃
冃 Iconic component
mào cap

Modern form looks like unrelated 冖.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 冃 than it was in ancient scripts.
元
元 SoundIconic component
yuán first

Depicts a person.

寸
寸 Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwan[k.ʔ]ˤor cap (n.)
kwanHk.ʔˤor-s cap (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“冠，絭也。所以絭髮，弁冕之總名也。从冖，从元，元亦聲。冠有法制，从寸。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.612
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

肺 fèi lungs

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

flesh

巿
巿 Sound component
fú, pó ceremonial knee coverings

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartphjojHpʰo[t]-slung
phajHpʰˤ[a][t]-sdense, luxuriant (foliage)
Zhengzhangpʰobs
Unicodepiæ̀i

說文解字

金藏也。从肉巿聲。

Sources

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

炎 yán flame

Combination of two fires (火).

Components

火
火 Iconic component
huǒ fire
火
火 Iconic component
huǒ fire

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (3 of 12 verified)

谈淡毯痰氮琰郯啖锬剡談赕

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

琰欻燅

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthjem[ɢ]ʷ(r)am burn, blazing

說文解字

《說文》：“炎，火光上也。从重火。”

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)