ài​dài

love and respect

ài love Simplified

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

Components

Sound component
choke on something eaten
Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Simplified component
characterless component

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

dài wear on the head

Depicts two hands putting something on top of the head (). The 𢦏 and components both represent the sound.

Components

𢦏
𢦏 Sound component
zāi to cut
SoundIconic component
different

Depicts two hands putting something on top of the head.

Change in sound

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttojHCə.tˤək-s carry on the head

說文解字

《說文》:“戴,分物得增益曰戴。从異,聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.217
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

ài love Traditional

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

Components

Sound component
zān hairpin
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
xīn, xin heart
Unknown component
zhǐ, zhōng go

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

Character Evolution

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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
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