梅里亚姆·韦伯斯特
Méi​lǐ​yà​mǔ​· Wéi​bó​sī​tè

Merriam-Webster

梅 méi plums

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 每 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
每
每 Sound component
měi every

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmwojC.mˤə plum tree

說文解字

《說文》：“梅，枏也，可食。从木，每聲。楳，或从某。”

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)

里 lǐ, li village

A village (里) is an area of land (土) where people have fields (田). In simplified Chinese 里 is also used to mean "inside", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 裡.

Components

田
田 Meaning component
tián field
土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
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 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 (5 of 17 verified)

理埋哩厘狸鲤俚锂娌裡悝釐陧裏貍鋰鯉

Iconic (0 of 1 verified)

廛

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

㢆

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartliX(mə.)rəʔ li (measure of distance); village

說文解字

《說文》：“里，居也。从田，从土。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.913
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

亚 yà Asia, sub- Simplified

Original meaning: tomb

Simplified form of 亞. Depicts a wooden structure where coffins are placed. Based on the original meaning "tomb". The current meaning "Asia" is a phonetic loan.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

恶哑娅垩桠氩垭痖

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

晋

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

姆 mǔ woman looking after children

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 母 represents the sound.

Components

女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman
母
母 Sound component
mǔ mother

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmuwXməʔ female teacher in harem

Sources

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

韦 wéi, huí tanned leather Simplified

Simplified form of 韋. Pictograph of feet walking around city walls. The character is based on the original meaning "to surround". The "leather" meaning is a phonetic loan.

Component uses

Sound (2 of 12 verified)

围伟违纬讳苇闱炜玮韪帏祎

Meaning (1 of 4 verified)

韩韧韬韫

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.476
Readings & variants
Unicode

伯 bó, bo older brother, uncle

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 白 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

白
白 Sound component
bái, bai white

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpaekpˤrak father’s elder brother

說文解字

《說文》：“伯，長也。从人，白聲。”

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)

斯 sī this

Original meaning: cut

Phonosemantic compound. 斤 represents the meaning and 其 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "cut". Nowadays this character is usually only used for its sound in phonetic loans.

Components

斤
斤 Meaning component
jīn axe
其
其 Sound component
qí its, his, (3p possessive)
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

撕嘶厮澌廝

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsje[s]e split (v.)
sje[s]e this
sjese 斯須 a short time

說文解字

《說文》：“斯，析也。从斤，其聲。《詩》曰：‘斧以斯之。’”

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)

特 tè special

Original meaning: bull

Phonosemantic compound. 牛 represents the meaning and 寺 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bull". The meaning later shifted to "prominent" and "special".

Components

牛
牛 Meaning component
niú cow
寺
寺 Sound component
sì, shì temple
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdok[d]ˤək bull

說文解字

《說文》：“特，朴特，牛父也。从牛，寺聲。”

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)

亞 yà Asia, sub- Traditional

Original meaning: tomb

Depicts a wooden structure where coffins are placed. Based on the original meaning "tomb". The current meaning "Asia" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 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 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 (1 of 5 verified)

埡啞堊婭惡

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'aeHʔˤrak-s secondary

說文解字

《說文》：“亞，醜也。象人局背之形。賈侍中說以為次弟也。”

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)

韋 (surround a city), tanned leather Traditional

Original meaning: surround a city

Pictograph of feet walking around city walls. The character is based on the original meaning "to surround". The "leather" meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

止
止 Iconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 止 than it was in ancient scripts.
囗
囗 SoundIconic component
wéi, guó surround

Depicts city walls.

止
止 Iconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 止 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 13 verified)

卫衛違緯葦諱韙圍瑋禕闈幃偉

Meaning (1 of 3 verified)

韌韓韜

Remnant (1)

卫

Iconic (1)

衛

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthjw+j[ɢ]ʷə[j] leather
hjw+j[ɢ]ʷə[j] go against

說文解字

《說文》：“韋，相背也。从舛，囗聲。獸皮之韋可以束，枉戾相韋背，故借以為皮韋。，古文韋。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.476
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)