tè​me

fricking

special

Original meaning: bull

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bull". The meaning later shifted to "prominent" and "special".

Components

Meaning component
niú cow
Sound component
sì, shì temple
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdok[d]ˤək bull

說文解字

《說文》:“特,朴特,牛父也。从牛,寺聲。”

Sources

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

me [question particle] Simplified

Variant form of , which is a pictograph of a twisted thread.

Component uses

Meaning (1)

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle Chinese
Unicodeqeu

Sources

Character origin
黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.416
Readings & variants
Unicode

me interrogative particle Traditional

Original meaning: thin

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
yāo tiny
Sound component
má, ma hemp

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangmaːlʔ

說文解字

《說文》:“麼,細也,从幺麻聲。”

Sources

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