àn​xiāng​shū​yǐng

plum blossom

àn dark

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
sun
Sound component
yīn sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'omHqˤum-s dark

說文解字

《說文》:“暗,日無光也。从日,音聲。”

Sources

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

xiāng fragrant

Represents the sweet () smell of fresh grain ().

Components

Meaning component
grain stalk
Meaning component
gān sweetness

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxjangqʰaŋ fragrance

說文解字

《說文》:“香,芳也。从黍,从甘。《春秋傳》曰:‘黍稷馨香。’”

Sources

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

shū wide apart

Original meaning: unblock, get things flowing

Phonosemantic compound. represents the sound and represents the meaning. Based on the original meaning "unblock, get things flowing". The meaning later shifted to "open up", "sparse", "wide apart", and "neglect".

Components

Sound component
pǐ, shū, yǎ foot
Meaning component
liú birth

Character Evolution

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsrjosra wide apart

說文解字

《說文》:“疏,通也。从,从疋,疋亦聲。”

Sources

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

yǐng shadow

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. The component depicts shadow lines.

Components

Iconic component
shān, xiǎn hair

Depicts shadow lines.

Sound component
jǐng scenery

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jaengXqraŋʔ shadow (n.)

Sources

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