活版印刷
huó​bǎn​yìn​shuā

movable type printing

活 huó, huo live

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

𠯑
𠯑 Sound component
guā block the mouth

Later reanalyzed as the visually similar character 舌.

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

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

阔闊

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthwat[g]ʷˤat to live

說文解字

《說文》：“，水流聲。从水，聲。，或从。”

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)

版 bǎn printing block, edition

Phonosemantic compound. 片 represents the meaning and 反 represents the sound.

Components

片
片 Meaning component
piàn, piān slice
反
反 Sound component
fǎn reverse

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangpraːnʔ
Unicodebǎn

說文解字

《說文》：“版，判也。从片，反聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

印 yìn print

Original meaning: restrain

Pictograph of a kneeling person (卩) being held down by a hand (爪). Based on the original meaning "restrain", now written as 抑. The meaning later shifted to "push down", "stamp", and "print".

Components

爪
爪 Iconic component
zhǎo, zhuǎ hand, claw
卩
卩 Iconic component
jié person kneeling

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2)

抑茚

Meaning (1)

茚

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jinH[ʔ]iŋ-s seal

說文解字

執政所持信也。从爪从卪。凡印之屬皆从印。

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)

刷 shuā brush

Depicts a person squatting (尸) and holding a utensil (刂 ) attached to a cloth (巾) to scrub or clean something.

Components

尸
尸 Iconic component
shī sitting person

Depicts a person squatting.

巾
巾 Iconic component
jīn cloth
刂
刂 Iconic component
dāo knife

Used here to depict a utensil held in the hand. The variant character 㕞 used the 又 (hand) component instad.


Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

唰涮

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsrjwet[s]r[o]t (dialect: retains MC srj-)brush (v.)
srwaet[s]r[o]t brush (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“刷，刮也。从刀，省聲。《禮》：‘布刷巾。’”

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)