Original meaning: cutting edge
Depicts the cutting edge (一) of a knife blade (刀). Similar in origin to 亡. Based on the original meaning "cutting edge". The meaning later expanded to "perimeter", "area", and "square".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pjang | C-paŋ | square |
| pjang | paŋ | method | |
| pjang | paŋ | just, then |
說文解字
《說文》：“方，併船也。象兩舟省緫頭形。汸，方或从水。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.685-686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)
Originally written as 無, which is a pictograph of a person dancing, with ox tails or bird feathers hanging from his arms, to pray for rain. The 舛 (two feet) component was later added to emphasize the action of dancing after 無 was phonetically borrowed for different meanings.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | mjuX | k.m(r)aʔ | dance (v.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“舞，樂也。用足相背。从舛，舞聲。，古文舞从羽、亡。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.472林志強《《文源》評注》p.203
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | khweajH | [kʰ]ˤ<r>uj-s | clod, lump |
| khwojH | [kʰ]ˤuj-s | clod; lump |
說文解字
《說文》：“凷，墣也。从土，一屈象形。塊，凷或从鬼。”
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)