潜望镜
qián​wàng​jìng

periscope

潜 qián hide Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 替 represents the sound. Simplified form of 潛.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

替
替 Sound component
tì take the place of, stand in for

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

望 wàng, wang to look at

Pictograph of a person standing up (𡈼) and gazing at the moon (月). 亡 is a sound component.

Components

亡
亡 Sound component
wáng death
月
月 Iconic component
yuè, yue moon
𡈼
𡈼 Iconic component
tǐng, tíng, zhēng stand upright

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
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmjangmaŋ look at from a distance
mjangHmaŋ-s look at from a distance

說文解字

《說文》：“望，出亡在外，望其還也。从亡，朢省聲。”

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)

镜 jìng mirror Simplified

Simplified form of 鏡. Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 竟 represents the sound.

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

竟
竟 Sound component
jìng actually

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

潛 qián hide Traditional

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

water

朁
朁 Sound component
cǎn, qián, jiàn if

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzjem[dz][o]mgo under water; 驩潛 Khwārazm (region in Central Asia, W. Hàn)
dzjemH[dz][o]m-sto hide; secretly
Zhengzhangzlom
zloms
Unicodedzhiɛm

說文解字

涉水也。一曰藏也。一曰漢水爲潛。从水朁聲。

Sources

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

鏡 jìng mirror Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 釒 represents the meaning and 竟 represents the sound.

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal
竟
竟 Sound component
jìng actually

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkjaengHC.qraŋʔ-s mirror

說文解字

《說文》：“鏡，景也。从金，竟聲。”

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)