bái​chì​jiāo​zuǐ​què

white-winged crossbill

bái, bai white

Origin unclear. Possibly depicts a thumb or a person's face.

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
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbaekbˤrak 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

chì wings

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

Meaning component
feather
Sound component
zhī support, hold up

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsyeHs-kʰe-swing
Zhengzhangqʰjes
Unicodeshiə̌

Sources

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

jiāo to cross, to mix

Pictograph of a person standing with crossed legs, conveying the meaning "to cross".

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (8 of 24 verified)

Meaning (0 of 4 verified)

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkaew[k]ˤraw cross (v.)

說文解字

《說文》:“交,交脛也。从大,象交形。”

Sources

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

zuǐ mouth

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
SoundMeaning component
zuǐ, zī beak

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangʔseʔ
Unicodetziuɛ̌

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

què sparrow

Pictograph of a sparrow.

Character Evolution

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 Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsjak[ts]ewk sparrow

說文解字

《說文》:“雀,依人小鳥也。从小、隹。讀與爵同。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica