男婚女嫁
nán​hūn​nǚ​jià

marriage

男 nán male

Traditionally males (男) were the people who plowed (力) the fields (田).

Components

田
田 Meaning component
tián field
力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power

Depicts a plow.

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
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 4 verified)

舅甥嬲虜

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnomnˤ[ə]m man, male

說文解字

《說文》：“男，丈夫也。从田，从力，言男用力於田也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.918-919
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

婚 hūn get married

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 昏 represents the sound.

Components

女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman
昏
昏 Sound component
hūn, hún twilight

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxwonm̥ˤu[n] marriage

說文解字

《說文》：“婚，婦家也。禮，娶婦以昏時。婦人陰也，故曰婚。从女，从昏，昏亦聲。，籀文婚。”

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)

女 nǚ, nü woman

Depicts a woman sitting or squatting down.

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (31 of 141 verified)

好她始妈姐娘婚姑姆姓妹妙奶婆媒娜嫌娃妖妨姿奸姻嫁妄妮嫂娇姊耍姨媚姚媳姜娱娶嫩娟妒妆姬嫉妓娥婉姥娅婶婢婪婿嫦妞娴嬉嫖嫣妊娼娠婷嫡姗媲婵嫔娓娄妩媛娩婊娲娑孀媾婀姣佞妍娣妲嬗妪嬷姘婕媸娌妗婺媪嫠姒姹娉妯娆嫱嬖嫘婧嬲嫒姝妣娈嫜妁嫫媵妤嬌嫪孃姮妳娭孌嬈嫵娛嫚媠媷媽奼姪嬋姦婭嫻嬛媕妝嬪姫媧嫗嬸

Iconic (15 of 16 verified)

要如安威妇妻奴妥婴妃妾囡妟嬰婦婁

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

如奴汝钕

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnrjoXnraʔ female
nrjoHnraʔ-s give as a wife

說文解字

《說文》：“女，婦人也。象形。王育說。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.848
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

嫁 jià to marry

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 家 represents the sound.

Components

女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman
家
家 Sound component
jiā, jia house

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkæHkˤra-sgo (as a bride) to one"s new home
kæHs-kˤra-ssend (one’s daughter) as a bride
Zhengzhangkraːs
Unicodegà

說文解字

女適人也。从女家聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)