Mù​hǎn​mò​dé'ōu​mǎ

Muhammad Omar

majestic

Original meaning: ears of a grain plant

Depicts the ripe drooping ears of a grain stalk (). was later added as a decorative mark. Based on the original meaning "ears of a grain plant". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "majestic".

Components

Iconic component
grain stalk
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "ears of a grain plant", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts the ripe drooping ear of a grain stalk.

shān, xiǎn hair

Used here as a decorative mark.

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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 Qin 221-206 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmjuwkm(r)iwk harmonious

說文解字

《說文》:“穆,禾也。从禾,聲。”

Sources

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

hǎn, hàn rare

Original meaning: bird trap

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

Components

Meaning component
wǎng net
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Sound component
gàn, gān interfere

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartxanXqʰˤa[r]ʔ rare
xanXqʰˤa[r]ʔ net

說文解字

《說文》:“,网也。从网,干聲。”

Sources

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

silent

Phonosemantic compound. represents the sound and represents the meaning.

Components

Sound component
hēi black
Change in sound
Meaning component
quǎn dog

Dogs are not able to speak.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

《說文》:“默,犬暫逐人也。从犬,黑聲。讀若墨。”

Sources

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

virtue

Originally written as , depicting a straight () heart (). The (walk) component was added later.

Components

Meaning component
chì, fú walk

is a component form of .

SoundMeaning component
virtue

Original form of .

Character Evolution

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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttoktˤək virtue

說文解字

《說文》:“德,升也。从彳,聲。”

Sources

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

ōu Europe Simplified

Original meaning: vomit

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "vomit". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Sound component
area
Meaning component
qiàn, qian yawn, deficient
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "vomit", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

agate stone Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

𤣩
𤣩 Meaning component
jade
Sound component
horse

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

ōu Europe Traditional

Original meaning: vomit

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

Components

Sound component
area
Meaning component
qiàn, qian yawn, deficient
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "vomit", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangqoː
qoːʔ
Unicodeqǒu

說文解字

《說文》:“歐,吐也。从欠,區聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

agate stone Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

𤣩
𤣩 Meaning component
jade
Sound component
horse

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangmraːʔ
Unicode

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang