爱国主义 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

ài love Simplified

Simplified form of 愛. Phonosemantic compound. 旡 represents the sound and 友 (friend) represents the meaning.

Components

jì choke on something eaten

Change in sound

爱 and 旡 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.

Change in form

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

◎ Simplified component

characterless component

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

暧嗳嫒瑷𫣊

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

guó nation Simplified

Simplified form of 國. Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 或 represents the sound.

Components

囗 Meaning component

wéi, guó surround

玉 Sound Simplified component

yù jade

Shorthand for the 或 component in the traditional character 國.

Change in sound

国 and 玉 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
国 *[C.q]ʷˤək
玉 *[ŋ](r)ok (< uvular?)

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

帼蝈掴

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

zhǔ master

Original meaning: deity

Pictograph of a memorial tablet used for spiritual rituals, similar to 示.

Character Evolution

Seal form — Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (3 of 11 verified)

住注驻柱蛀拄炷麈疰駐註

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsyuX	toʔ	master; host

說文解字

《說文》：“主，鐙中火主也。从凵土，象形；从丶，丶亦聲。”

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)

yì justice Simplified

Adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 義. Phonosemantic compound. 羊 represents the meaning and 我 represents the sound. In ancient China sheep (羊) were associated with goodness and beauty, which is why 羊 is a component in characters like 美 (beautiful), 善 (benevolent), and 義 (justice).

Components

羊 Meaning Simplified component

yáng sheep

我 Sound Simplified component

wǒ I; me

Change in sound

义 and 我 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
义 *ŋ(r)aj-s
我 *ŋˤajʔ

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

议仪蚁舣

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

ài love Traditional

Originally a phonosemantic compound, with 旡 representing the sound and 心 (heart) representing the meaning. Later the 夂 component was added.

Components

兂 Sound component

zān hairpin

Change in sound

愛 and 兂 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
愛 *[q]ˤə[p]-s
兂 ʔsrɯm

Change in form

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

心 Meaning component

xīn, xin heart

夂 Unknown component

zhǐ, zhōng go

夂 is a component form of 止. The purpose of this component is unclear.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

僾噯曖璦

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	'ojH	[q]ˤə[p]-s	to love; to grudge (< ‘draw close to oneself’?)

說文解字

《說文》：“愛，行皃。从夊，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)

guó nation Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 或 represents the sound.

Components

囗 Meaning component

wéi, guó surround

或 Sound component

huò or

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

膕幗蟈摑

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kwok	[C.q]ʷˤək	state (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“國，邦也。从囗，从或。”

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)

yì right conduct Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 羊 represents the meaning and 我 represents the sound. In ancient China sheep (羊) were associated with goodness and beauty, which is why 羊 is a component in characters like 美 (beautiful), 善 (benevolent), and 義 (justice).