yáng​zhī

mutton fat

yáng sheep

Pictograph of the head of a sheep with horns.

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (9 of 22 verified)

Meaning (5 of 11 verified)

Simplified (2)

Remnant (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyangɢaŋ sheep

說文解字

《說文》:“羊,祥也。从,象頭角足尾之形。孔子曰:牛羊之字,以形舉也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.298
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

zhī fat

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of .

Sound component
zhǐ purpose

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyijkijfat, grease
Zhengzhangkji
Unicodeji

說文解字

戴角者脂,無角者膏。从肉旨聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica