Líng​gǔ​sì

Linggu Temple

líng, ling spirit Simplified

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Simplified component
snout

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

Simplified component
huǒ fire

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangreːŋ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

valley, ravine

Depicts an opening () between two mountain streams.

Components

Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts two mountain streams.

Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth

Depicts an opening between two mountain streams.


Character Evolution

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
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 7 verified)

Meaning (0 of 4 verified)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkuwkC.qˤok valley

說文解字

《說文》:“谷,泉出通川為谷。从水半見,出於口。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

sì, shì temple

Original meaning: to hold

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. was later reanalyzed as , which also depicts a hand. Based on the original meaning "to hold", now written as . The current meaning "temple" is a phonetic loan.

Components

Sound component
zhī [attributive particle]
Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Meaning component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Originally but later reanalyzed as . Depicts a hand.

Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "to hold", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (7 of 11 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartziHs-[d]əʔ-s hall

說文解字

《說文》:“寺,廷也,有法度者也。从寸,之聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.234漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.242-243
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

líng, ling spirit Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
líng drops of rain
Meaning component
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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartleng[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