sēn​liè

arrayed like a forest

sēn forest

Combination of three trees ().

Components

Iconic component
tree
Iconic component
tree
Iconic component
tree

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsrims.rəm dense trees

說文解字

《說文》:“森,木多皃。从林,从木。讀若曾參之參。”

Sources

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

liè arrange

Original meaning: break apart

depicts a wooden post with a cracked bottom and depicts a knife. Both used to convey the original meaning "break apart". also represents the sound. The meaning later shifted to "arrange in order" and "list".

Components

SoundIconic component
dǎi, è, dāi evil, bad

Depicts a wooden post with a cracked bottom.

Change in sound
Iconic component
dāo knife

is a component form of .


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Jin 266-420 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 7 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartljet[r][e]t tear apart; rank

說文解字

《說文》:“列,分解也。从刀,聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.355
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica