牛奶巧克力 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

niúnǎiqiǎokèlì

milk chocolate

niú cow

Pictograph of the head of a cow.

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

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 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

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Meaning (5 of 28 verified)

物特件牧牲牺犁犀犊犟犄犒牝牦牯犍荦牾犋犏牿犢犪牴犂犎牸犧 show all 28 show fewer

Iconic (7)

解半牵牢牟牡牽

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	ngjuw	[ŋ]ʷə (< uvular?)	ox

說文解字

《說文》：“牛，大牲也，牛件也。件，事理也。象角頭三，封尾之形。”

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)

nǎi, nai milk

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 乃 represents the sound.

Components

女 Meaning component

nǚ, nü woman

乃 Sound Iconic component

nǎi then

Depicts a woman standing sideways with her breasts protruding.

Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	rneːlʔ

Sources

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

qiǎo skillful

Phonosemantic compound. 工 represents the meaning and 丂 represents the sound.

Components

工 Meaning component

gōng work

丂 Sound component

kǎo, qiǎo, yú axe handle

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Jin 266-420 AD

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khaewX	[kʰ]ˤruʔ	artful

說文解字

《說文》：“巧，技也。从工，丂聲。”

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)

kè subdue

Pictograph of a person (人) carrying a heavy weight on their back.

Components

◎ Iconic component

characterless component

Depicts a heavy load being carried on the back.

人 Iconic component

rén, ren person

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

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

Bronze form — Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC

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 Shuowen ~100 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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khok	kʰˤək	carry; able; dominate

說文解字

《說文》：“克，肩也。象屋下刻木之形。，古文克。，亦古文克。”

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)

lì, li power

Pictograph of a plow, which requires strength to operate.

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Meaning (24 of 47 verified)

动加务办功势男助劳努勇劲励勃劝勤幼劫勉勋勘募劾饬夯勖劭劬勐劢辦飭勞劦勢務勛勦勸勵劼劵勝勁勈動勳 show all 47 show fewer

Sound (4 of 9 verified)

历勒励劣肋仂阞勵艻

Simplified (3 of 5 verified)

边伤穷胁虏

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	lik	k.rək	strength

說文解字

《說文》：“力，筋也。象人筋之形。治功曰力，能圉大災。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.918-919
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)