Depicts two people (夫) standing side-by-side, one person higher and one person lower. Represents one person taking the place of another. The 曰 component was added at the bottom to distinguish from 並, which also depicts two people standing side-by-side.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Sound (0 of 1 verified)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | thejH | n̥ˤi[t]-s | discard |
說文解字
《說文》：“，廢，一偏下也。从竝，白聲。暜，或从曰。，或从兟，从曰。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 李学勤《字源》p.922-923
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: to bury a person
Depicts using a digging tool (歹) to bury a person (人). Based on the original meaning "to bury a person". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "die".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | sijX | sijʔ | die (v.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“死，澌也，人所離也。从歺，从人。，古文死如此。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 张昂《说“死”“葬”》廣韻形聲考
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Pictograph of a person (人) with the head of a ghost/demon (甶). 厶 was later added as a decorative mark.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kjw+jX | k-ʔujʔ | ghost |
說文解字
《說文》：“鬼，人所歸為鬼。从人，象鬼頭。鬼陰氣賊害，从厶。，古文从示。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 林志強《《文源》評注》p.4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)