牵羊担酒
qiān​yáng​dān​jiǔ

congratulating

牵 qiān drag Simplified

Depicts a person (人) leading an ox (牛) by the nose (自). 人 was later reanalyzed as 大.

Components

大
大 Iconic component
dà, dài big

Depicts a person. Later reanalyzed as 大.

自
自 Iconic component
zì (nose), self
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 自 than it was in ancient scripts.
牛
牛 Iconic component
niú cow

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.93-94林志強《《文源》評注》p.312
Readings & variants
Unicode

羊 yáng sheep

Pictograph of the head of a sheep with horns.

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (9 of 22 verified)

样养洋详祥氧翔痒佯羌恙庠烊羟養蛘徉羰詳羕鯗羥

Meaning (5 of 11 verified)

义群善姜羚咩羯義羝羴羍

Iconic (7)

美羞羡羌羔茍羨

Simplified (2)

样义

Remnant (1)

茍

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyangɢaŋ sheep

說文解字

《說文》：“羊，祥也。从，象頭角足尾之形。孔子曰：牛羊之字，以形舉也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.298
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

担 dān, dàn, dan carry Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 旦 represents the sound. Simplified form of 擔.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

旦
旦 Sound component
dàn dawn

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangtaːnʔ

Sources

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

酒 jiǔ wine

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 酉 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

酉
酉 SoundMeaning component
yǒu wine

Pictograph of a container for wine.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 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-SagarttsjuwXtsuʔ wine

說文解字

《說文》：“酒，就也，所以就人性之善惡。从水、从酉，酉亦聲。一曰造也，吉凶所造也。古者儀狄作酒醪，禹嘗之而美，逐儀狄。杜康作秫酒。”

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)

牽 qiān drag Traditional

Depicts a person (人) leading an ox (牛) by the nose (自). The 人 and 自 components were later corrupted into phonetic 玄.

Components

玄
玄 Sound component
xuán, xuàn black
自
自 Iconic component
zì (nose), self

Depicts a nose.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 自 than it was in ancient scripts.
牛
牛 Iconic component
niú cow

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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

縴

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

縴

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhen[k]ʰˤi[n] pull, lead, drag

說文解字

《說文》：“牽，引前也。从牛，象引牛之縻也，玄聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.93-94林志強《《文源》評注》p.312
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

擔 dān, dàn, dan carry Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 詹 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

詹
詹 Sound component
zhān, dàn talk too much

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttammə-tˤam carry on the shoulder
tamtˤam burden
tamHmə-tˤam-s burden

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart