新阶段
xīn​jiē​duàn

new stage

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)

阶 jiē stairs Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 介 represents the sound. Simplified form of 階.

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

介
介 Sound component
jiè to lie between

Sources

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

段 duàn section

Original meaning: forge metal

Pictograph of a hand holding a forging hammer (殳) and hitting a stone (石). Based on the original meaning "forge", now written as 鍛. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

石
石 Iconic component
shí stone
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 石 than it was in ancient scripts.
殳
殳 Iconic component
shū weapon or tool

Here depicts a hand holding a hammer.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 6 verified)

锻缎椴煅鍛緞

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttwanHtˤo[n]-s hammer

說文解字

《說文》：“段，椎物也。从殳，耑省聲。”

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)

階 jiē stairs Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 皆 represents the sound.

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

皆
皆 Sound component
jiē all

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 Eastern Han 25-220 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-Sagartkeajkˤrij steps, stairs

說文解字

《說文》：“階，陛也。从，皆聲。”

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)