短命鬼 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

duǎnmìngguǐ

short-lived person

duǎn short

Phonosemantic compound. 矢 represents the meaning and 豆 represents the sound.

Components

矢 Meaning component

shǐ arrow

豆 Sound component

dòu bean

Change in sound

短 and 豆 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
短 *tˤorʔ
豆 *[N.t]ˤo-s

Character Evolution

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

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	twanX	tˤorʔ	short

說文解字

《說文》：“短，有所長短，以矢為正。从矢，豆聲。”

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)

mìng life

Original meaning: command

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 令 represents the sound and meaning. Based on the original meaning "command". The meaning later shifted to "fate" and "life".

Components

口 Meaning component

kǒu, kou mouth

令 Sound Meaning component

lìng command

令 also serves as a meaning component.

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	mjaengH	m-riŋ-s (dialect: m-r- > mr-, -iŋ> -eŋ)	command (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“命，使也。从口，从令。”

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)

guǐ ghost

Pictograph of a person (人) with the head of a ghost/demon (甶). 厶 was later added as a decorative mark.

Components

甶 Iconic component

fú human's head

Used here to depict the head of a ghost/demon.

人 Iconic component

rén, ren person

厶 Distinguishing component

sī, mǒu private, selfish

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

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Meaning (4 of 16 verified)

魔魂魏魄魅魇魑魉魃魍魈魆醜魖魎魘

Sound (4 of 9 verified)

畏愧瑰魁槐傀隗嵬塊

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kjw+jX	k-ʔujʔ	ghost

說文解字

《說文》：“鬼，人所歸為鬼。从人，象鬼頭。鬼陰氣賊害，从厶。，古文从示。”

Sources

Character origin: 林志強《《文源》評注》p.4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)