灵犀一点通 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

língxīyīdiǎntōng

rapport

líng, ling spirit Simplified

Simplified form of 靈. Phonosemantic compound. 巫 represents the meaning and 霝 represents the sound.

Components

彐 Simplified component

jì snout

Shorthand for the 霝 component in the traditional character 靈.

火 Simplified component

huǒ fire

Shorthand for the 巫 component in the traditional character 靈.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	reːŋ

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang

xī rhinoceros

Phonosemantic compound. 尾 represents the sound and 牛 represents the meaning.

Components

尾 Sound component

wěi tail

Change in sound

犀 and 尾 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
犀 *s.lˤəj
尾 *[m]əjʔ

Change in form

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

牛 Meaning component

niú cow

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Western Zhou 1045-771 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	sej	s.lˤəj	rhinoceros

說文解字

《說文》：“犀，南徼外牛，一角在鼻，一角在頂，似豕。从牛，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)

yī one

A single horizontal stroke, representing the number one.

Character Evolution

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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

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

Clerical form — Clerical Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Iconic (9)

生之方或万旦曰巿丏

Meaning (2 of 7 verified)

百千兹闩戛晉閂

Unknown (2)

Distinguishing (1)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	'jit	ʔi[t]	one

說文解字

《說文》：“一，惟初太始，道立於一，造分天地，化成萬物。弌，古文一。”

Sources

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

diǎn dot Simplified

Simplified form of 點. Phonosemantic compound. 黑 represents the meaning and 占 represents the sound.

Components

占 Sound component

zhàn divine

Change in sound

点 and 占 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
点 *tˤemʔ
占 *tem

灬 Meaning Simplified component

biāo, huǒ fire

Simplified from the 黑 (black) component in the traditional character 點.

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

tōng, tòng pass through

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 甬 represents the sound.

Components

辶 Meaning component

chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

甬 Sound component

yǒng, tǒng, dòng path

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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 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

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	thuwng	l̥ˤoŋ	penetrate

說文解字

達也。从辵甬聲。

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)

líng, ling spirit Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 巫 represents the meaning and 霝 represents the sound.

Components

霝 Sound component

líng drops of rain

巫 Meaning component

wū wizard, shaman

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Qin 221-206 BC

Seal form — Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

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

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	leng	[r]ˤeŋ	supernatural

說文解字

《說文》：“，靈巫，以玉事神。从玉，霝聲。靈，或从巫。”

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)

diǎn dot Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 黑 represents the meaning and 占 represents the sound.

Components

黑 Meaning component

hēi black

占 Sound component

zhàn divine

Change in sound

點 and 占 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
點 *tˤemʔ
占 *tem

Character Evolution

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	temX	tˤemʔ	black spot

說文解字

《說文》：“點，小黑也。从黑，占聲。”

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)