Depicts a decorative crown above 王 (king).
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | hwang | [ɢ]ʷˤaŋ | yellow and white spotted |
| hwang | [ɢ]ʷˤaŋ | sovereign |
說文解字
《說文》：“皇，大也。从自，自，始也，始皇者，三皇大君也。自，讀若鼻，今俗以始生子為鼻子。”
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: firewood used as sacrifice
Pictograph of firewood bundled together for a sacrifice. Based on the original meaning "firewood used as sacrifice", now written as 禘. Later the meaning changed to "emperor".
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tejH | tˤek-s | God |
說文解字
《說文》：“帝，諦也。王天下之號也。从丄，朿聲。，古文帝。古文諸丄字皆从一，篆文皆从，，古文上字。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.46
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: bright
Phonosemantic compound. 白 represents the meaning and 勺 represents the sound. The character is based on the original meaning "bright".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tek | [t-l]ˤewk | bright; mark in a target |
說文解字
《說文》：“旳，明也。从日，勺聲。《易》曰：‘為的顙。’”
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: firewood
Phonosemantic component. 辛 represents the sound, and 斤 (axe) and 木 (tree) represent the original meaning "firewood", now written as 薪. The meaning later shifted to "fresh" and "new".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Sound (1)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | sin | s.tsʰi[n] | new |
說文解字
《說文》：“新，取木也。从斤，新聲。”
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)
Pictograph of a shirt or coat.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'j+j | ʔ(r)əj | clothes |
| 'j+jH | ʔ(r)əj-s | wear (v.t.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“衣，依也。上曰衣，下曰裳。象覆二人之形。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.663
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)