焉耆盆地
Yān​qí​pén​dì

Yanqi basin

焉 yān, yí thereupon

Original meaning: a type of bird

Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 正 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "a type of bird". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

正
正 Sound component
zhèng, zheng, zhēng correct
Change in sound
鳥
鳥 MeaningRemnant component
niǎo bird

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

嫣蔫鄢傿

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jenʔa[n] how
hjen[ʔ]a[n] (atonic)(3p locative pronoun)

說文解字

《說文》：“焉，焉鳥，黃色，出於江淮。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)

耆 qí, zhǐ, shì man of sixty

Phonosemantic compound. 老 represents the meaning and 旨 represents the sound.

Components

老
老 Meaning component
lǎo old
旨
旨 Sound component
zhǐ purpose
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

鳍嗜蓍鰭

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgij[g]rij old

說文解字

《說文》：“耆，老也。从老省，旨聲。”

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)

盆 pén basin

Phonosemantic compound. 皿 represents the meaning and 分 represents the sound.

Components

皿
皿 Meaning component
mǐn, mǐng dish
分
分 Sound component
fēn, fèn, fen divide

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

湓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbwon[b]ˤə[n]bowl, basin
Zhengzhangbɯːn

說文解字

盎也。从皿分聲。

Sources

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

地 de, dì earth

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 也 represents the sound.

Components

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth
也
也 Sound component
yě also
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdijH[l]ˤej-s earth, ground

說文解字

《說文》：“地，元气初分，輕、清、陽為天；重、濁、陰為地。萬物所陳列也。从土，也聲。墬，籀文地从。”

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)