祁奚
Qí Xī

Qi Xi

祁 qí, zhǐ pray

Phonosemantic compound. 礻 represents the meaning and 阝 represents the sound.

Components

礻
礻 Meaning component
shì show

礻 is a component form of 示.

阝
阝 Sound component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgij[ɡ]rij(place name)
gij[ɡ]rə[j]great, numerous
Zhengzhangɡril
kljilʔ
Unicodeghyi

說文解字

太原縣。从邑示聲。

Sources

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

奚 xī where? what? how? why?

Original meaning: slave

Depicts a hand holding a rope tied to a slave. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

爫
爫 Iconic component
zhǎo hand, claw

爫 is a component form of 爪. Depicts a hand.

幺
幺 Iconic component
yāo tiny

Depicts a rope.

大
大 Iconic component
dà, dài big

Depicts a person.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 8 verified)

溪蹊谿雞鼷鷄鞵徯

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthej[g]ˤe (dial. for 何 *[g]ˤaj?)why, what
hej[g]ˤe slave, servant

說文解字

《說文》：“奚，大腹也。从大，省聲。，籀文系字。”

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)