牌位
pái​wèi

memorial tablet

牌 pái signboard

Phonosemantic compound. 片 represents the meaning and 卑 represents the sound.

Components

片
片 Meaning component
piàn, piān slice
卑
卑 Sound component
bēi humble, inferior

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangbreː
breː

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

位 wèi position

Depicts a person (亻) standing (立) in a specific position.

Components

亻
亻 Iconic component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

立
立 SoundIconic component
lì stand

立 also represents the sound.

Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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
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

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

莅

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

涖

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthwijH[ɢ]ʷrəp-s (< *ɢʷəʔ-rəp-s ?)standing, position

說文解字

《說文》：“位，列中庭之左右謂之位。从人、立。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫廣韻形聲考
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)