tè​xiě

close-up

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

xiě write Simplified

Original meaning: relocate

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "relocate". The meaning later shifted to "copy" and "write". The simplified character was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character .

Components

Meaning component
cover

is a component form of .

Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "relocate", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
Simplified component
yǔ, yù and

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

xiě write Traditional

Original meaning: relocate

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "relocate". The meaning later shifted to "copy" and "write".

Components

Meaning component
mián roof
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "relocate", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
Sound component
xì, què, tuō a shoe

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsjaeXs-qʰAʔ depict
sjaeXs-qʰAʔ drain off

說文解字

《說文》:“寫,置物也。从宀,舄聲。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica