终而复始
zhōng'ér​fù​shǐ

cyclical

终 zhōng end Simplified

Simplified form of 終. Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 冬 represents the sound.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

冬
冬 SoundIconic component
dōng winter

Depicts a rope with knots at both ends

說文解字

龜名。从龜夂聲。夂，古文終字。

Sources

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

而 ér and

Original meaning: beard

Originally a pictograph of a beard, now written as 耏. The current use as a conjunction is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 8 verified)

需耐鸸恧鲕耎耏鴯

Iconic (2)

耐耏

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

耍

Simplified (1)

斋

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnyinə and, but

說文解字

《說文》：“而，頰毛也。象毛之形。《周禮》曰：‘作其鱗之而。’”

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)

复 fù return Simplified

Pictograph of a foot entering or exiting a building, representing the meaning "to return".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts some sort of enclosed building.

夂
夂 Iconic component
zhǐ, zhōng go

夂 is a component form of 止. Depicts a foot.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 7 verified)

腹蝮愎馥複鳆復

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

愎復

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjuwkm-p(r)uk return

說文解字

《說文》：“，行故道也。从夊，畗省聲。”

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)

始 shǐ begin

Original meaning: elder sister

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 台 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "elder sister", now written as 姒. The meaning later shifted to "first" and "start".

Components

女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman
台
台 Sound component
tái platform
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~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
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsyiXl̥əʔ begin

說文解字

《說文》：“始，女之初也。从女，台聲。”

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)

終 zhōng end Traditional

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

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

冬
冬 SoundIconic component
dōng winter

Depicts a rope with knots at both ends

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 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-Sagarttsyuwngtuŋ end

說文解字

《說文》：“終，絿絲也。从糸，冬聲。，古文終。”

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)

復 return Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 彳 represents the meaning and 复 represents the sound.

Components

彳
彳 Meaning component
chì, fú walk

彳 is a component form of 行.

复
复 SoundMeaning component
fù return

Character Evolution

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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

Sound (1)

覆

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbjuwH[N]-pruk-s again
bjuwkm-p(r)uk return

說文解字

《說文》：“復，往來也。从彳，复聲。”

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)