kōng​qì​qǔ​yàng​qì

air sampler

kōng, kòng empty

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
xué, jué cave
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)

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

qì, qi air Simplified

Depicts a gust of air.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 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

Meaning (4 of 23 verified)

Sound (4)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhj+jHC.qʰəp-s (inhaled thing:) breath, air, vapors

說文解字

《說文》:“气,雲气也。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.58-59漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

take

Pictograph of a hand () grabbing an ear (). In ancient China, the ears of opponents in battle were cut off and collected as tokens of victory.

Components

Iconic component
ěr ear
Iconic component
yòu hand

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 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 (8 of 12 verified)

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttshuwXtsʰˤoʔ take
tshjuXtsʰoʔ take
tshjuH[ts]ʰoʔ-s take (a wife)

說文解字

《說文》:“取,捕取也。从又,从耳。《周禮》:‘獲者取左耳。’《司馬法》曰:‘載獻聝。’聝者,耳也。”

Sources

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

yàng shape Simplified

Original meaning: acorn

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

Components

Meaning component
tree
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "acorn", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
yáng sheep

Simplified from the traditional component .

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangʔslaːŋ
laŋ

Sources

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

receptacle

Origin unclear.

Components

Unknown component
jí, léi clamour, noise
Unknown component
quǎn dog

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhijH[kʰ]r[ə][t]-s vessel; instrument

說文解字

《說文》:“器,皿也。象器之口,犬所以守之。”

Sources

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

qì, qi air Traditional

Original meaning: gift of grain

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "gift of grain", now written as . The current meaning "air" is a phonetic loan.

Components

Meaning component
rice
SoundIconic component
qì, qi air

Depicts a gust of air.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhj+jHC.qʰəp-s cloudy vapors
xj+jHqʰət-s to present food

說文解字

《說文》:“氣,饋客芻米也。从米,气聲。《春秋傳》曰:‘齊人來氣諸矦。’,氣或从既;餼,氣或从食。”

Sources

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

yàng shape Traditional

Original meaning: acorn

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
tree
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "acorn", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
Sound component
yàng eternal

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhanglaŋs
Unicodeiɑ̀ng

說文解字

《說文》:“樣,栩實。从木,羕聲。”

Sources

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