母子垂直感染
mǔ​zǐ​chuí​zhí​gǎn​rǎn

vertical transmission

母 mǔ mother

Pictograph of a woman kneeling, with two dots representing the two nipples that mothers use to feed their young.

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

姆拇坶呣鉧

Iconic (2)

后每

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmuwXməʔ (? or *mˤoʔ) mother

說文解字

《說文》：“母，牧也。从女，象褱子形。一曰象乳子也。”

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)

子 zi, zǐ child

Pictograph of a small child with its two arms waving.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (10 of 21 verified)

好存字李孩孙季孤仔孟孽籽孺孢孪孳孥囝孫孨孿

Iconic (15)

了学教保包孔乳孕孝孚孛孑孓斿學

Sound (2 of 5 verified)

字仔孜籽耔

Remnant (3)

了孑孓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsiX[ts]əʔ 1st earthly branch
tsiXtsəʔ child; gentleman, master

說文解字

《說文》：“子，十一月陽气動，萬物滋，人以為偁。象形。，古文子，从巛，象髮也。，籀文子，囟有髮，臂、脛在几上也。”

Sources

Character origin
徐中舒《甲骨文字典》p.1571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)

垂 chuí droop

Original meaning: borderland

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 𠂹 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "borderland", now written as 陲. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

𠂹
𠂹 Sound component
chuí grass, trees, flowers, leaves
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 𠂹 than it was in ancient scripts.
土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth
Change in meaning
土 hints at the original meaning of 垂, "borderland", which is no longer the most common meaning of 垂 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 9 verified)

睡锤唾捶陲缍棰錘埵

Meaning (1)

郵

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzywe[d]o[j] hang down

說文解字

《玉篇》：“，《說文》垂。”

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)

直 zhí straight

Pictograph of a straight line coming from the eye, to depict looking straight at something. The purpose of the stroke at the bottom is unclear.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a straight line

目
目 Iconic component
mù eye
◎
◎ Unknown component
characterless component

The purpose of this component is unclear.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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 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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (5 of 7 verified)

值置植殖埴稙惪

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

矗惪

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdrikN-t<r>ək straight

說文解字

《說文》：“直，正見也。从，从十，从目。，古文直。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.870
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

感 gǎn feel

Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 咸 represents the sound.

Components

心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart
咸
咸 Sound component
xián all
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

憾撼轗

Meaning (1)

轗

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkomXkˤ[ə]mʔ move (emotionally) (v.t.)

說文解字

《說文》：“感，動人心也。从心，咸聲。”

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)

染 rǎn dye, infect, be contagious

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water
杂
杂 Sound component
zá mixed, various
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnyemXC.n[a]mʔ to dye

說文解字

《說文》：“染，以繒染為色。从水，杂聲。”

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)