环卫 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

huánwèi

sanitation

huán jade ring or bracelet Simplified

Simplified form of 環. Phonosemantic compound. 玉 represents the meaning and 睘 represents the sound.

Components

𤣩 Meaning component

yù jade

不 Simplified component

bù, bu no

Shorthand for the 睘 component in the traditional character 環.

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

wèi guard Simplified

Simplified from 衛. Phonosemantic compound. 行 represents the meaning and 韋 represents the sound. The 行 component was deleted for simplification.

Components

韋 Sound Remnant component

(surround a city), tanned leather

Remnant of 韋, the sound component in 衛.

行 Meaning Deleted component

xíng, háng walk

Sources

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

huán jade ring or bracelet Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 玉 represents the meaning and 睘 represents the sound.

Components

𤣩 Meaning component

yù jade

睘 Sound component

qióng round

Change in sound

環 and 睘 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
環 hwaen
睘 hwaen

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	hwaen	C.ɢʷˤ<r>en	ring (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“環，璧也。肉好若一謂之環。从玉，睘聲。”

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)

wèi guard Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 行 represents the meaning and 韋 represents the sound.

Components

行 Meaning component

xíng, háng walk

韋 Sound Iconic component

(surround a city), tanned leather

Depicts feet walking around city walls.

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	hjwejH	[ɢ]ʷ(r)a[t]-s	to guard

說文解字

《說文》：“衞，宿衞也。从韋、帀，从行。行，列衞也。”

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)