Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 可 represents the sound. Originally a pictograph of an axe handle (丂).
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ka | [k]ˤar | axe-handle |
說文解字
《說文》：“柯，斧柄也。从木，可聲。”
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: musical instrument
Depicts a bell-shaped musical instrument. The current meaning of 南 is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nom | nˤ[ə]m | south |
說文解字
《說文》：“南，艸木至南方有枝任也。从，聲。，古文。”
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)
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dawH | lˤuʔ-s | show the way |
| dawX | [kə.l]ˤuʔ | way |
說文解字
所行道也。从辵从𩠐。一達謂之道。
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Simplified
Simplified form of 爾. Pictograph of a weapon with a sharp head and tail decorations on the end. Similar in origin to 朿. Original meaning unclear.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nyeX | n[ə][r]ʔ | you(r) |
說文解字
《說文》：“尒，詞之必然也。从入、丨、八，八象气之分散。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.259董蓮池《說文解字考正》p.129
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Pictograph of a weapon with a sharp head and tail decorations on the end. Similar in origin to 朿. Original meaning unclear.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nejX | nˤ[ə][r]ʔ | numerous |
| nyeX | n[ə][r]ʔ | (adv. suffix) | |
| nyeX | n[ə][r]ʔ | you(r) |
說文解字
《說文》：“爾，麗爾，猶靡麗也。从冂，从，其孔；尒聲。此與爽同意。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.259董蓮池《說文解字考正》p.129
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)