xīn​pǐn

new product

xīn new

Original meaning: firewood

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

Components

Sound component
xīn laborious
Iconic component
tree

Depicts a tree being cut for firewood.

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

Depicts an axe cutting a tree for firewood.

Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "firewood", which is no longer the most common meaning of 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)

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

pǐn product

Triple of . Depicts several types of things together.

Components

Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth
Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth
Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth

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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (6)

Sound (3 of 5 verified)

Simplified (2)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartphimXpʰr[ə]mʔ kind, class

說文解字

《說文》:“品,眾庶也。从三口。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica