碑铭
bēi​míng

inscription

碑 bēi stone tablet

Phonosemantic compound. 石 represents the meaning and 卑 represents the sound.

Components

石
石 Meaning component
shí stone
卑
卑 Sound component
bēi humble, inferior

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjeprestele; upright pole of stone or wood
Zhengzhangpre
Unicodebyɛ

說文解字

豎石也。从石卑聲。

Sources

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

铭 míng inscribe Simplified

To carve 钅 one's name 名; 名 also provides the pronunciation

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal
名
名 SoundMeaning component
míng name

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

銘 inscribe Traditional

To carve 釒 one's name 名; 名 also provides the pronunciation

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal
名
名 SoundMeaning component
míng name

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmengmˤeŋinscription
Zhengzhangmeːŋ
Unicodemeng

說文解字

記也。从金名聲。

Sources

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