牵联

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

联 lián connect Simplified

Simplified form of 聯. Phonosemantic compound. 耳 represents the meaning and 𢇇 represents the sound.

Components

耳
耳 Meaning component
ěr ear

Alludes to earrings connected to the ear.

关
关 Simplified component
guān to close

Shorthand for the phonetic 𢇇 component in the traditional character 聯.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

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)

聯 lián connect Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 耳 represents the meaning and 𢇇 represents the sound.

Components

耳
耳 Meaning component
ěr ear

Alludes to earrings connected to the ear.

𢇇
𢇇 Sound component
guān to run threads through a web in weaving
Change in sound

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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

《說文》：“聯，連也。从耳，耳連於頰也；从絲，絲連不絕也。”

Sources

Character origin
Zhengzhang Shangfang漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)