没齿难忘 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

méi, mò not have Simplified

Original meaning: reach into the water to grab something

Simplified form of 沒. Depicts a hand reaching in the water to grab something. The meaning later expanded to "drown", "disappear", and "not have".

Components

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

回 Iconic Simplified component

huí return

Depicts the rippling surface of water.

又 Iconic component

yòu hand

Depicts a hand.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese
Unicode	mət

說文解字

《說文》：“沒，沈也。从水，从。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.208-209
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

chǐ teeth Simplified

Simplified form of 齒. Pictograph of a mouth full of teeth. The sound component 止 was added later.

Components

止 Sound component

zhǐ (foot), stop

𠚕 Iconic Simplified component

chǐ teeth

Depicts a mouth full of teeth.

Component uses

Meaning (3 of 12 verified)

龄龋龈啮龌龇龅龉龃龆龀𱌮

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

啮龊

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.139
Readings & variants: Unicode

nán, nan, nàn difficult Simplified

Original meaning: type of bird

Simplified form of 難. Phonosemantic compound. 隹 represents the meaning and 𦰩 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "type of bird". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

又 Simplified component

yòu again

Shorthand for the 𦰩 component in the traditional character 難.

隹 Meaning component

zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

滩摊瘫傩

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

wàng forget

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

Components

心 Meaning component

xīn, xin heart

亡 Sound component

wáng death

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	mjang	maŋ	forget
	mjangH	maŋ-s	forget

說文解字

《說文》：“忘，不識也。从心，从亡，亡亦聲。”

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)

méi, mò not have Traditional

Original meaning: reach into the water to grab something

Depicts a hand reaching in the water to grab something. The meaning later expanded to "drown", "disappear", and "not have".

Components

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

回 Iconic component

huí return

Depicts the rippling surface of water.

Change in form

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

又 Iconic component

yòu hand

Depicts a hand.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	mwot	mˤut	to dive, drown, die

說文解字

《說文》：“沒，沈也。从水，从。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.208-209
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

chǐ teeth Traditional

Pictograph of a mouth full of teeth. The sound component 止 was added later.

Components

止 Sound component

zhǐ (foot), stop

𠚕 Iconic component

chǐ teeth

Depicts a mouth full of teeth.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Meaning (3 of 15 verified)

齡齮齧齣齦齲齜齵齟齶齱嚙齙齷齬

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

齪嚙

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsyhiX	t-[k]ʰə(ŋ)ʔ (or *t.ŋ̊əʔ)	front teeth

說文解字

《說文》：“齒，口齗骨也。象口齒之形。止聲。，古文齒字。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.139
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

nán, nan, nàn difficult Traditional

Original meaning: type of bird

Phonosemantic compound. 隹 represents the meaning and 𦰩 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "type of bird". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.