电热壶 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

diànrèhú

electric kettle

diàn electricity Simplified

Original meaning: lightning

Simplified form of 電, which depicts lightning (申) during a rainstorm (雨). The 雨 component was deleted for simplification.

Components

雨 Deleted component

yǔ rain

申 Sound Iconic component

shēn to extend

Depicts lightning.

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.981-982
Readings & variants: Unicode

rè hot Simplified

Simplified form of 熱. Phonosemantic compound. 灬 represents the meaning and 埶 represents the sound.

Components

灬 Meaning component

biāo, huǒ fire

灬 is a component form of 火.

执 Simplified component

zhí hold in hand

Shorthand for the 埶 component in the traditional character 熱.

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

hú jar Simplified

Simplified form of 壺. Pictograph of a pot used for holding liquids.

Sources

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

diàn electricity Traditional

Original meaning: lightning

Depicts lightning (申) during a rainstorm (雨).

Components

雨 Meaning component

yǔ rain

申 Sound Iconic component

shēn to extend

Depicts lightning.

Change in sound

電 and 申 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
電 *lˤi[n]-s
申 *l̥i[n]

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

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

Seal form — Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 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	denH	lˤi[n]-s	lightning

說文解字

《說文》：“電，陰陽激燿也。从雨，从申。，古文電。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.981-982
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

rè hot Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 灬 represents the meaning and 埶 represents the sound.

Components

灬 Meaning component

biāo, huǒ fire

灬 is a component form of 火.

埶 Sound component

yì, shì art, skill

Change in sound

熱 and 埶 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
熱 nyet
埶 syejH

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	nyet	C.nat (or *C.ŋet?)	hot

說文解字

《說文》：“熱，溫也。从火，埶聲。”

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)

hú jar Traditional

Pictograph of a pot used for holding liquids.

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

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	hu	[g](ʷ)ˤa	flask

說文解字

《說文》：“壺，昆吾圜器也。象形。从大，象其蓋也。”

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)