独占鳌头 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

dúzhàn'áotóu

come first

dú alone Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 犭 represents the meaning and 蜀 represents the sound. Simplified form of 獨.

Components

犭 Meaning component

quǎn dog

犭 is a component form of 犬.

虫 Simplified component

chóng bug, insect

Shorthand for the phonetic 蜀 component in the traditional character 獨.

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

zhàn divine

In ancient China fortune-tellers analyzed cracks (卜) and holes (口) in shells and bones for the purpose of divination.

Components

卜 Iconic component

bo fortune telling

Depicts a crack.

口 Iconic component

kǒu, kou mouth

Depicts a hole.

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Qin 221-206 BC

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (9 of 25 verified)

点战站店贴钻粘沾帖毡拈黏玷鲇砧苫點觇貼坫飐佔扂覘颭 show all 25 show fewer

Meaning (0 of 5 verified)

拈乩觇呫覘

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsyem	tem	prognosticate

說文解字

《說文》：“占，視兆問也。从卜，从口。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.249-250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)

áo huge sea turtle Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鱼 represents the meaning and 敖 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鰲.

Components

鱼 Meaning component

yú fish

敖 Sound component

áo, aó, ào ramble, stroll, roam

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

tóu, tou head Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 頁 represents the meaning and 豆 represents the sound. The simplified character 头 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 頭.

Components

豆 Sound Simplified component

dòu bean

頁 Iconic Simplified component

yè (head), page

Depicts a head on top of a person.

Component uses

Simplified (2)

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

dú alone Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 犭 represents the meaning and 蜀 represents the sound.

Components

犭 Meaning component

quǎn dog

犭 is a component form of 犬.

蜀 Sound component

shǔ short name for Sichuan

Change in sound

獨 and 蜀 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
獨 *[d]ˤok
蜀 *[d]ok

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

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	duwk	[d]ˤok	alone; only

說文解字

《說文》：“獨，犬相得而鬭也。从犬，蜀聲。羊為羣，犬為獨也。一曰北囂山有獨獸，如虎，白身，豕鬣，尾如馬。”

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)

huge sea turtle Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 魚 represents the meaning and 敖 represents the sound.

Components

魚 Meaning component

yú fish

敖 Sound component

áo, aó, ào ramble, stroll, roam

Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	ŋaːw

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang

tóu, tou head Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 頁 represents the meaning and 豆 represents the sound.

Components

頁 Iconic component

yè (head), page

Depicts a head on top of a person.

豆 Sound component

dòu bean

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

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

Clerical form — Clerical Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	duw	[m-t]ˤo	head

說文解字

《說文》：“頭，首也。从頁，豆聲。”

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)