波澜起伏
bō​lán​qǐ​fú

undulating

波 bō waves

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

皮
皮 Sound component
pí skin
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

婆啵菠

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

啵

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpapˤaj wave (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“波，水涌流也。从水，皮聲。”

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)

澜 lán overflowing Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 阑 represents the sound. Simplified form of 瀾.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

阑
阑 Sound component
lán, làn door screen

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

起 qǐ go up

Phonosemantic compound. 走 represents the meaning and 己 represents the sound.

Components

走
走 Meaning component
zǒu walk
己
己 Sound component
jǐ self

Character Evolution

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 Qin 221-206 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 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhiXC.qʰ(r)əʔ rise (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“起，能立也。从走，巳聲。，古文起，从辵。”

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)

伏 fú crouch

Original meaning: to lie down

Depicts a person (亻) lying down next to a dog (犬). The meaning later shifted to "crouch".

Components

亻
亻 Iconic component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

犬
犬 Iconic component
quǎn dog

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 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 (0 of 2 verified)

袱茯

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

袱

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbjuwH[b]ək-s hatch (v.)
bjuwk[b]ək lie prostrate

說文解字

《說文》：“伏，司也。从人，从犬。”

Sources

Character origin
中華語文知識庫漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

瀾 overflowing Traditional

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

闌
闌 Sound component
door screen

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlanX[r]ˤanʔwater in which rice has been washed
Zhengzhangɡ·raːn
ɡ·raːns
Unicodelɑn
lɑ̀n

說文解字

大波爲瀾。从水闌聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)