Original meaning: intense pain from an illness
Depicts a person with a swollen abdomen (㐆) receiving an acupuncture from a hand holding a needle (殳). Based on the original meaning "intense pain from an illness". The meaning later shifted to "abundant" and "many" while it's other meaning used as the name of a dynasty at the end of the Shang dynasty is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'ean | ʔˤrə[r] | dark-red |
| 'j+n | ʔə[r] | 殷殷 distressed | |
| 'j+n | ʔə[r] | ample, many | |
| 'j+n | ʔər | (dynastic name) |
說文解字
《說文》：“殷，作樂之盛稱殷。从，从殳。《易》曰：‘殷薦之上帝。’”
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)
Simplified
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Old Chinese | |
|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | ɢʷɯs |
說文解字
《說文》：“忧，不動也。从心，尤聲。讀若祐。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Zhengzhang Shangfang
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Simplified
Simplified form of 啟. Depicts a hand (又) opening a door (户) of an opening (口). The 又 (hand) component was later removed for simplification.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | khejX | kʰˤijʔ | open (v.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“启，開也。从戶，从口。”
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)
Simplified
Components
又 Simplified component
Shorthand for the 耳 component in the traditional character 聖.
土 Simplified component
Shorthand for the 𡈼 component in the traditional character 聖.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
說文解字
《說文》：“圣，汝潁之閒，謂致力於地曰圣。从土，从又。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫Zhengzhang Shangfang
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'juw | ʔ(r)u | grief, grieved |
說文解字
《說文》：“憂，和之行也。从夊，聲。《詩》曰：‘布政憂憂。’”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.793-794
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Depicts a hand (又) opening a door (户) of an opening (口). The 又 (hand) component was later reanalyzed as meaning component 攵.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | khejX | kʰˤijʔ | open (v.) |
| Zhengzhang | kʰeːʔ |
說文解字
《說文》：“啟，教也。从攴，启聲。《論語》曰：‘不憤不啟。’”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | syengH | l̥eŋ-s | sage (n.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“聖，通也。从耳，呈聲。”
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)