sī​dǐ​xia

privately

private

Original meaning: grain

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "grain". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Meaning component
grain stalk
SoundMeaning component
sī, mǒu private, selfish

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsij[s]əj private

說文解字

《說文》:“私,禾也。从禾,厶聲。北道名禾主人曰私主人。”

Sources

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

bottom

Phonosemantic compound. 广 represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

广
广 Meaning component
guǎng roof
SoundMeaning component
dī, dǐ, zhī bottom

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttejXtˤijʔ bottom; stop, obstruct

說文解字

《說文》:“底,山居也。一曰下也。从广,氐聲。”

Sources

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

xià, xia under

Originally a small line or dot below a longer line, indicating "down". The vertical line was added to distinguish the character from (two). Opposite of .

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Jin 266-420 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Iconic (1)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthaeXgˤraʔ down
haeHm-gˤraʔ-s descend

說文解字

《說文》:“丅,底也。指事。下,篆文丅。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.47
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica