疣鼻天鹅
yóu​bí​tiān'é

mute swan

疣 yóu, yòu wart

Phonosemantic compound. 疒 represents the meaning and 尤 represents the sound.

Components

疒
疒 Meaning component
nè sick
尤
尤 SoundIconic component
yóu especially

Depicts a hand with a wart on it.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangɢʷɯ

說文解字

《說文》：“，顫也。从頁尤聲。疣，或从疣。”

Sources

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

鼻 bí nose

Phonosemantic compound. 自 is a pictograph of a nose and 畀 represents the sound.

Components

自
自 Iconic component
zì (nose), self

Depicts a nose.

畀
畀 Sound component
bì to give

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (1 of 5 verified)

鼾擤劓齄鼽

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

濞劓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbjijHCə-bi[t]-s smell (v.t.)
bjijHm-bi[t]-s nose

說文解字

《說文》：“鼻，引气自畀也。从自、畀。”

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)

天 tiān, tian sky

Original meaning: head

Depicts a person (大) with an emphasized head. Based on the original meaning "head". The meaning later shifted to "top", "high", and "sky".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a head.

大
大 Iconic component
dà, dài big

Depicts a person.


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 Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

吞蚕忝祆

Iconic (1)

吴

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

昊

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartthenl̥ˤi[n] heaven
xenl̥ˤi[n] (W dialect: l̥ˤ- > Hàn-time *xˤ- > MC x-)heaven

說文解字

《說文》：“天，顛也。至高无上，从一、大。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.40-41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)

鹅 é goose Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鸟 represents the meaning and 我 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鵝.

Components

鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird
我
我 Sound component
wǒ I; me

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

鵝 é goose Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 我 represents the sound.

Components

鳥
鳥 Meaning component
niǎo bird
我
我 Sound component
wǒ I; me

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngaŋˤa[r]goose
Zhengzhangŋaːl
Unicodengɑ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica