Original meaning: cracked wooden post
Variant of 歺. Pictograph of a wooden post or digging tool with a cracked bottom. Similar to 才 and 弋. The meaning later shifted to "bad" and "evil".
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Old Chinese | |
|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | ŋaːd |
說文解字
《說文》：“歹，骨之殘也。从半冎。讀若櫱岸之櫱。，古文歺。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.333
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Zhengzhang Shangfang
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: command
Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 令 represents the sound and meaning. Based on the original meaning "command". The meaning later shifted to "fate" and "life".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | mjaengH | m-riŋ-s (dialect: *m-r- > *mr-, *-iŋ> *-eŋ) | command (n.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“命，使也。从口，从令。”
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)