比翼双飞
bǐ​yì​shuāng​fēi

chicken dish

比 bǐ to compare

Two spoons side-by-side, conveying the meaning "to put together", "match", or "compare". 匕 also represents the sound.

Components

匕
匕 SoundIconic component
bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Depicts a spoon.

匕
匕 SoundIconic component
bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Depicts a spoon.


Character Evolution

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 Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Qin 221-206 BC
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 (3 of 21 verified)

批毕屁毙庇毗琵砒蓖吡纰枇蚍妣秕貔舭芘仳坒紕

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

毖坒

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjijXC.pijʔ compare
pjijHpij-s combine; all

說文解字

《說文》：“比，密也。二人為从，反从為比。夶，古文比。”

Sources

Character origin
尤梓竹《甲骨文字考釋提要（一）》p.56李学勤《字源》p.725
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

翼 yì wings

Phonosemantic compound. 羽 represents the meaning and 異 represents the sound.

Components

羽
羽 Meaning component
yǔ feather
異
異 Sound component
yì different

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyikɢʷrəp (dialect: *-p > *-k)wing
Zhengzhanglɯɡ
Unicodeiək

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

双 shuāng set of two Simplified

Simplified form of 雙. Depicts a pair of hands.

Components

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

飞 fēi fly Simplified

Simplified form of 飛. Pictograph of a flying bird.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

雙 shuāng set of two Traditional

Depicts a pair of birds in the hand.

Components

雔
雔 Iconic component
chóu match, collate

Depicts a pair of birds.

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.


Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsraewng[s]roŋ a pair

說文解字

《說文》：“雙，隹二枚也。从雔，又持之。”

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)

飛 fēi fly Traditional

Pictograph of a flying bird.

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpj+jCə.pə[r] (dialect: *-r > *-j)fly (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“飛，鳥翥也。象形。”

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)