滴酒不沾
dī​jiǔ​bù​zhān

teetotal

滴 dī drip

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

water

啇
啇 Sound component
dì, shì, zhāi stalk, stem, root

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangteːɡ
Unicodedek

說文解字

《說文》：“滴，水注也。从水，啻聲。”

Sources

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

酒 jiǔ wine

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

酉
酉 SoundMeaning component
yǒu wine

Pictograph of a container for wine.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsjuwXtsuʔ wine

說文解字

《說文》：“酒，就也，所以就人性之善惡。从水、从酉，酉亦聲。一曰造也，吉凶所造也。古者儀狄作酒醪，禹嘗之而美，逐儀狄。杜康作秫酒。”

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)

不 bù, bu no

Original meaning: sepals

Pictograph of sepals of a flower. The modern meaning "no" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 5 verified)

否杯钚罘盃

Simplified (4)

还环怀坏

Meaning (1 of 4 verified)

否歪甭孬

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjuwpə not
pjuwpə 不律 writing brush (pron. in Wú 吳 ap. Shuōwén; E. Hàn)

說文解字

《說文》：“不，鳥飛上翔不下來也。从一，一猶天也。象形。”

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)

沾 zhān moisten

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 占 represents the sound. Simplified form of 霑.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

占
占 Sound component
zhàn divine

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

霑

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttrjem[t]remmoisten
Zhengzhangtem
teːms
tʰeːm
Unicodedjiɛm

說文解字

水。出壺關，東入淇。一曰沾，益也。从水占聲。

Sources

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