牵肠挂肚
qiān​cháng​guà​dù

deeply concerned

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

肠 cháng intestines Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 昜 represents the sound. Simplified form of 腸.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

昜
昜 Sound component
yáng bright

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

挂 guà hang Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 圭 represents the sound. Simplified form of 掛.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

圭
圭 Sound component
guī jade pointed at top

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkweaH[k]ʷˤre-s suspend

說文解字

《說文》：“挂，畫也。从手，圭聲。”

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)

肚 dù belly

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 土 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

土
土 Sound component
tǔ earth

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttuXtˤaʔ belly, stomach
duXm-tˤaʔ belly

Sources

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

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)

腸 cháng intestines Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 昜 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

昜
昜 Sound component
yáng bright

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdrjanglraŋintestines
Zhengzhangl'aŋ
Unicodedjhiɑng

說文解字

大小腸也。从肉昜聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

掛 guà hang Traditional

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

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

卦
卦 Sound component
guà fortune telling

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangkʷreːs
Unicodeguɛ̀i

Sources

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