精挑细选
jīng​tiāo​xì​xuǎn

handpick

精 jīng essence

Phonosemantic compound. 米 represents the meaning and 青 represents the sound.

Components

米
米 Meaning component
mǐ rice
青
青 Sound component
qīng green or blue

Character Evolution

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 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-Sagarttsjengtseŋ fine rice; pure

說文解字

《說文》：“精，擇也。从米，青聲。”

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)

挑 tiāo, tiǎo carry on the shoulder, pick

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 兆 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

兆
兆 Sound component
zhào omen

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartthewl̥ˤew scratch, stir up
dewXlˤewʔ provoke

說文解字

《說文》：“挑，撓也。从手，兆聲。一曰摷也。《國語》曰：‘郤至挑夭。’”

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)

细 xì thin, fine Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 囟 represents the sound. Simplified form of 細.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

囟
囟 Sound component
xìn fontanel

Modern form looks like 田.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 囟 than it was in ancient scripts.

說文解字

耕也。从土豤聲。

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

选 xuǎn choose Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 先 represents the sound. Simplified form of 選.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

先
先 Sound component
xiān first

Character Evolution

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

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica

細 xì thin, fine Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 囟 represents the sound.

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

囟
囟 Sound component
xìn fontanel

Modern form looks like 田.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 囟 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Eastern Han 25-220 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-SagartsejH[s]ˤe(k)-s small, minute

說文解字

《說文》：“細，微也。从糸，囟聲。”

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)

選 xuǎn choose Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 巽 represents the sound.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

巽
巽 Sound component
xùn, zhuàn obedient

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsjwenX[s]o[n]ʔ choose; count
sjwenX[s]o[r]ʔ count (v.)
sjwenH[s]o[n]ʔ-s even, orderly

說文解字

遣也。从辵、巽，巽遣之；巽亦聲。一曰選，擇也。

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)