空中客车
Kōng​zhōng Kè​chē

Airbus

空 kōng, kòng empty

Phonosemantic compound. 穴 represents the meaning and 工 represents the sound.

Components

穴
穴 Meaning component
xué, jué cave
工
工 Sound component
gōng work

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 6 verified)

控腔崆倥箜焢

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhuwngkʰˤoŋ hollow, empty; hole
khuwngXkʰˤoŋʔ hollow, empty; hole

說文解字

《說文》：“空，竅也。从穴，工聲。”

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)

中 zhōng, zhòng central

Depicts a flagpole. There is a circle in the middle marking the center of the flagpole. In older forms of the character, the flagpole has streamers at the top and bottom used to show the direction of the wind.

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
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 11 verified)

种冲钟忠仲肿衷忡盅舯沖

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

仲衷

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttrjuwngtruŋ center
trjuwngHtruŋ-s hit the center

說文解字

《說文》：“中，內也。从口、丨，上下通。，古文中。，籀文中。”

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)

客 kè guest

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 各 represents the sound.

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof
各
各 Sound component
gè each

Character Evolution

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
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 (2 of 4 verified)

额喀髂額

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhaekkʰˤrak guest

說文解字

《說文》：“客，寄也。从宀，各聲。”

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)

车 chē cart, vehicle Simplified

Pictograph of a war chariot. The simplified character 车 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 車.

Component uses

Meaning (13 of 53 verified)

军转连轻较阵输载软轮轰辑辆辈辖轨辅舆轩辐轴轿轼辙轧辗辄辘辕轲轶辍辎辏辔轱轭毂轸轳辊轫辚辂轾辋轹轺轵辌辒辁轷

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

库斩厍砗

Iconic (1)

辇

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.939
Readings & variants
Unicode

車 chē cart, vehicle Traditional

Pictograph of a war chariot.

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
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 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

Meaning (19 of 50 verified)

較輕轉軟連載轎輔陣輸輓軌轘軸軍輾軒輪輩軛輿轂轗輻軔軻輒輥轟輂軲轍軾輛輟𨊠庫軋輊輬輯轆軼轅轡轤軫輭轀轄

Iconic (2)

軎輦

Sound (2)

庫斬

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

墼

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyhae[t.qʰ](r)A chariot
kjoC.q(r)a chariot

說文解字

《說文》：“車，輿輪之總名。夏后時奚仲所造。象形。，籀文車。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.939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)