Pictograph of a ritual object made out of several pieces of jade joined together by a string. A dot was later added to 玉 to distinguish it from 王 (king).
Components
丶 Distinguishing component
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ngjowk | [ŋ](r)ok (< uvular?) | jade |
說文解字
《說文》：“玉，石之美。有五德：潤澤以溫，仁之方也；理自外，可以知中，義之方也；其聲舒揚，專以遠聞，智之方也；不橈而折，勇之方也；銳廉而不技，絜之方也。象三玉之連，丨，其貫也。，古文玉。”
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)
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 SoundSimplified component
頁 IconicSimplified component
Depicts a head on top of a person.
Original meaning: a beautiful name for a woman
Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 𦣞 represents the sound.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ki | [k](r)ə | (family name) |
說文解字
《說文》：“姬，黃帝居姬水以為姓。从女，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)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
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)