注音符号
zhù​yīn​fú​hào

Bopomofo

注 zhù concentrate, pour into

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 主 represents the sound. In simplified Chinese 注 is also used to mean "register; comment", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 註.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

主
主 Sound component
zhǔ master

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttrjuHtro(ʔ)-s to conduct water

說文解字

《說文》：“注，灌也。从水，主聲。”

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)

音 yīn sound

Originally the same as 言 (speech) but with an extra line added in the mouth (口) to distinguish the two characters.

Components

言
言 Iconic component
yán speech

Depicts a tongue sticking out of the mouth.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 言 than it was in ancient scripts.
◎
◎ Distinguishing component
characterless component

Mark to distinguish 音 from 言.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

暗黯谙歆喑窨揞諳

Meaning (2 of 5 verified)

意韵韶響韻

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'im[q](r)əm sound, tone

說文解字

《說文》：“音，聲也。生於心有節於外謂之音；宮商角徵羽聲；絲竹金石匏土革木音也。从言，含一。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.164-165
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

符 fú tally, symbol, mark

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 付 represents the sound.

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

付
付 Sound component
fù, fu pay, hand over

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbju[b](r)o a tally

說文解字

《說文》：“符，信也。漢制以竹，長六寸，分而相合。从竹，付聲。”

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)

号 hào, hao, háo call, mark Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 丂 represents the sound. Simplified form of 號.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
丂
丂 Sound component
kǎo, qiǎo, yú axe handle

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

枵鸮號鴞

Meaning (1)

號

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthawH[g]ˤaw-s command, call (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“号，痛聲也。从口，在丂上。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.393
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

號 hào, hao, háo call, mark Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 虎 represents the meaning and 号 represents the sound.

Components

虎
虎 Meaning component
hǔ, hu tiger

Alludes to the meaning "roar".

号
号 SoundMeaning component
hào, hao, háo call, mark

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

饕

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthaw[C.g]ˤaw call out
hawHCə.[g]ˤaw-s command, call (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“號，呼也。从号，从虎。”

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)