Origin unclear. Possibly depicts a thumb or a person's face.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | baek | bˤrak | white |
說文解字
《說文》：“白，西方色也。陰用事，物色白。从入合二。二，陰數。，古文白。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.625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)
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | mjieng | C.meŋ | name |
說文解字
《說文》：“名，自命也。从口，从夕。夕者，冥也。冥不相見，故以口自名。”
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)
Simplified
Original meaning: hunting tool
Simplified form of 單. Pictograph of a hunting tool or weapon constructed from rocks tied to a tree branch. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Traditional
Original meaning: hunting tool
Pictograph of a hunting tool or weapon constructed from rocks tied to a tree branch. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dzyen | dar (< *[d]ar) | 單于 chányú: Xiōngnú ruler (W. Hàn) |
| tan | Cə.tˤar | single, simple |
說文解字
《說文》：“單，大也。从吅、，吅亦聲。闕。”
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)