Original meaning: unblock, get things flowing
Phonosemantic compound. 疋 represents the sound and 㐬 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
Character Evolution
Component uses
Sound (1)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | srjo | sra | 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
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: beard
Originally a pictograph of a beard, now written as 耏. The current use as a conjunction is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nyi | nə | and, but |
說文解字
《說文》：“而，頰毛也。象毛之形。《周禮》曰：‘作其鱗之而。’”
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)
Original meaning: sepals
Pictograph of sepals of a flower. The modern meaning "no" is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pjuw | pə | not |
| pjuw | pə | 不律 writing brush (pron. in Wú 吳 ap. Shuōwén; E. Hàn) |
說文解字
《說文》：“不，鳥飛上翔不下來也。从一，一猶天也。象形。”
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)
Originally written as 屚, which depicts rainwater (雨) leaking through a house roof (屋). The 氵 (water) component was added later to clarify the meaning.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | luwH | [Nə-r]ˤok-s | leak (v.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“漏，以銅受水刻節，晝夜百刻。从水，屚聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 李学勤《字源》p.1011, 1025許進雄《新編進階甲骨文字典: 甲骨文發現120周年紀念版》p.204
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)