洗者若翰
Xǐ​zhě Ruò​hàn

John the Baptist

洗 xǐ wash

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

先
先 Sound component
xiān first
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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-SagartsejX[s]ˤərʔ wash
senXsˤərʔ wash

說文解字

《說文》：“洗，洒足也。从水，先聲。”

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)

者 zhě one who...

Original meaning: paper mulberry

Pictograph of a tree with paper mulberry leaves, now written as 楮. The distinguishing mark 口 was added later. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a tree with paper mulberry leaves. Original form of 楮.

口
口 Distinguishing component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (14 of 28 verified)

着都书著诸署绪猪赌屠堵睹煮奢暑褚赭渚箸锗楮翥諸豬緒書賭啫

Simplified (1)

书

Iconic (1)

楮

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyaeXtAʔ (nominalizing particle)

說文解字

《說文》：“者，別事詞也。从白，聲。，古文旅字。”

Sources

Character origin
林志強《《文源》評注》p.524-525李学勤《字源》p.290
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

若 ruò if

Original meaning: conform, obey

Pictograph of a kneeling person smoothing out their unkempt hair with their hands. Based on the original meaning "conform, obey". The 口 (mouth) component was added later when the character became more abstract.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts unkempt hair.

𠂇
𠂇 Iconic component
zuǒ left hand

Depicts a hand smoothing out the hair.

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth

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 Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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 (2 of 8 verified)

诺惹匿偌喏锘箬諾

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnyaknak you
nyaknak agree

說文解字

《說文》：“若，擇菜也。从艸、右。右，手也。一曰杜若，香艸。”

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)

翰 hàn writing brush

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

Components

羽
羽 Meaning component
yǔ feather
倝
倝 Sound component
gàn sunrise

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

瀚

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthanH[g]ˤar (MC implies *-s)white (of a horse)
hanH[g]ˤar-s pheasant; feather, wing
hanH[g]ˤar-s high
hanHm-kˤar-s prop up, support

說文解字

《說文》：“翰，天雞，赤羽也。从羽，倝聲。”

Sources

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