紫坪铺大坝
Zǐ​píng​pū Dà​bà

Zipingpu Dam

紫 zǐ purple

Phonosemantic compound. 糸 represents the meaning and 此 represents the sound.

Components

糸
糸 Meaning component
mì, sī silk
此
此 Sound component
cǐ this

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Jin 266-420 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 Chinese
Zhengzhangʔseʔ
Unicodetziɛ̌

說文解字

帛青赤色。从糸此聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

坪 píng level ground

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 平 represents the sound.

Components

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth
平
平 SoundMeaning component
píng flat

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangbeŋ

說文解字

《說文》：“坪，地平也。从土，从平，平亦聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

铺 pù, pū, pu spread out Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 甫 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鋪.

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

甫
甫 Sound component
fu begin

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

大 dà, dài big

Depicts an adult man facing forward and standing erect. The meaning later shifted to "big".

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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

Meaning (9 of 21 verified)

去太奇套尖奈赤契夸奎奢奕叁奘夯奁夼尜奩奓𢧤

Iconic (21)

天因美夫央亦乘衡牵熊夹爽奚鬱粦耎夨叕夾椉業

Sound (6 of 11 verified)

太达夺泰驮耷奪馱忕羍旲

Simplified (4)

类奖奋庆

Unknown (0 of 2 verified)

爨䙴

Deleted (1)

业

Remnant (1)

椉

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdaHlˤat-s (MC F!)big
dajHlˤa[t]-s big

說文解字

《說文》：“大，天大、地大、人亦大，故大象人形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.764
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

坝 bà embankment Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 贝 represents the sound. Simplified form of 壩.

Components

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth
贝
贝 Sound component
bèi sea shell

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

鋪 pù, pū, pu spread out Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 釒 represents the meaning and 甫 represents the sound.

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal

釒 is a component form of 金.

甫
甫 Sound component
fu begin

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartphjupʰ(r)aspread out
phupʰˤaspread out
Zhengzhangpʰaː
pʰaːs
pʰa
Unicodepo

說文解字

箸門鋪首也。从金甫聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

壩 bà embankment Traditional

Components

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth

earth

霸
霸 Sound component
bà rule by might rather than right

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpraːɡs

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang