独辟蹊径
dú​pì​xī​jìng

innovate

独 dú alone Simplified

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

Components

犭
犭 Meaning component
quǎn dog

犭 is a component form of 犬.

虫
虫 Simplified component
chóng bug, insect

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

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

辟 pì, bì law

Depicts punishing a kneeling person (卩) with a curved knife (䇂).

Components

卩
卩 Iconic component
jié person kneeling
䇂
䇂 Iconic component
qiān sickle, curved blade

Depicts a curved knife used to punish criminals.

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 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

Component uses

Sound (3 of 21 verified)

避壁臂譬劈僻霹璧癖噼擘薜嬖鐾甓襞檗鸊闢擗鷿

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbek[b]ˤek inner coffin
bjiek[N]-pek law, rule; lawful
pjiekpek ruler, prince

說文解字

《說文》：“辟，法也。从卩，从辛，節制其辠也；从口，用法者也。”

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)

蹊 qī, xī footpath

Phonosemantic compound. 足 represents the meaning and 奚 represents the sound.

Components

足
足 Meaning component
zú foot
奚
奚 Sound component
xī where? what? how? why?

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthej[ɡ]ˤefoot-path
Zhengzhangɡeː
Unicodehei

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

径 jìng narrow path Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 彳 represents the meaning and 𢀖 represents the sound. Simplified form of 徑.

Components

彳
彳 Meaning component
chì, fú walk

彳 is a component form of 行.

𢀖
𢀖 Sound component
jīng, xíng warp (textile)

Sources

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

獨 dú alone Traditional

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

Components

犭
犭 Meaning component
quǎn dog

犭 is a component form of 犬.

蜀
蜀 Sound component
shǔ short name for Sichuan
Change in sound

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartduwk[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)

徑 jìng narrow path Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 彳 represents the meaning and 巠 represents the sound.

Components

彳
彳 Meaning component
chì, fú walk

彳 is a component form of 行.

巠
巠 Sound component
jīng warp (textile)

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkengH[k]ˤeŋ-s small path

說文解字

《說文》：“徑，步道也。从彳，巠聲。”

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)