死而复活
sǐ'ér​fù​huó

resurrect

死 sǐ die

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

歹
歹 Iconic component
dǎi, è, dāi evil, bad

Depicts a digging tool.

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person

Depicts a person.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 人 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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (1 of 4 verified)

毙薨屍斃

Iconic (1)

葬

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsijXsijʔ 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)

而 ér and

Original meaning: beard

Originally a pictograph of a beard, now written as 耏. The current use as a conjunction is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 8 verified)

需耐鸸恧鲕耎耏鴯

Iconic (2)

耐耏

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

耍

Simplified (1)

斋

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnyinə and, but

說文解字

《說文》：“而，頰毛也。象毛之形。《周禮》曰：‘作其鱗之而。’”

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)

复 fù return Simplified

Pictograph of a foot entering or exiting a building, representing the meaning "to return".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts some sort of enclosed building.

夂
夂 Iconic component
zhǐ, zhōng go

夂 is a component form of 止. Depicts a foot.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 7 verified)

腹蝮愎馥複鳆復

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

愎復

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjuwkm-p(r)uk return

說文解字

《說文》：“，行故道也。从夊，畗省聲。”

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)

活 huó, huo live

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 𠯑 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

𠯑
𠯑 Sound component
guā block the mouth

Later reanalyzed as the visually similar character 舌.

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

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

阔闊

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthwat[g]ʷˤat to live

說文解字

《說文》：“，水流聲。从水，聲。，或从。”

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)

復 return Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 彳 represents the meaning and 复 represents the sound.

Components

彳
彳 Meaning component
chì, fú walk

彳 is a component form of 行.

复
复 SoundMeaning component
fù return

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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 (1)

覆

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbjuwH[N]-pruk-s again
bjuwkm-p(r)uk return

說文解字

《說文》：“復，往來也。从彳，复聲。”

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)