shū​sàn​qū

evacuation zone

shū wide apart

Original meaning: unblock, get things flowing

Phonosemantic compound. represents the sound and represents the meaning. Based on the original meaning "unblock, get things flowing". The meaning later shifted to "open up", "sparse", "wide apart", and "neglect".

Components

Sound component
pǐ, shū, yǎ foot
Meaning component
liú birth

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 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

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsrjosra wide apart

說文解字

《說文》:“疏,通也。从,从疋,疋亦聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

sàn, sǎn scatter

Originally written as 𢽳, which depicted trees () being struck () to make things fall off the tree and scatter. The character was sometimes confused with the character , and a corruption of it visually similar to was added.

Components

𢽳
𢽳 SoundMeaning component
sàn scatter
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 𢽳 than it was in ancient scripts.
Remnant component
jiǎ small jade wine cup

Modern form looks like .

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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 Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsanX[s]ˤa[n]ʔ scattered (adj.)
sanHmə-sˤa[n]ʔ-s scatter (v.t.)

說文解字

《說文》:“,雜肉也。从肉,聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.345-346
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

area Simplified

Simplified form of . Depicts a group of things () in an enclosed area.

Components

Iconic component
fāng, fàng box

Depicts an enclosed area.

pǐn product

Depicts a group of things.

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

Sources

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

area Traditional

Depicts a group of things () in an enclosed area.

Components

Iconic component
fāng, fàng box

Depicts an enclosed area.

Iconic component
pǐn product

Depicts a group of things.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'uwqˤ(r)o (a measure)

說文解字

《說文》:“區,踦區,藏匿也。从品在匸中。品,眾也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica