Měi​guó​zī​xùn​jiāo​huàn​biāo​zhǔn​mǎ

ASCII

měi beautiful

Pictograph of a person with ornamental headwear resembling sheep horns.

Components

Iconic component
yáng sheep

Depicts ornamental headwear resembling sheep horns.

Iconic component
dà, dài big

Used here as a pictograph of a person.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmijX[m]rəjʔ beautiful

說文解字

《說文》:“美,甘也。从羊,从大。”

Sources

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

guó nation Simplified

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

Components

Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
jade

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

property Simplified

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

Components

Sound component
second, next
Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

xùn inquire Simplified

Simplified form of . Depicts a mouth () interrogating a captured prisoner of war (). also represents the sound. The (mouth) component was later reanalyzed as (speech).

Components

Iconic component
yán speech

is a component form of . Originally (mouth). Later reanalyzed as (speech).

SoundIconic component
xùn to fly rapidly

Depicts a captive prisoner with their hands tied behind their back.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

jiāo to cross, to mix

Pictograph of a person standing with crossed legs, conveying the meaning "to cross".

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (8 of 24 verified)

Meaning (0 of 4 verified)

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkaew[k]ˤraw cross (v.)

說文解字

《說文》:“交,交脛也。从大,象交形。”

Sources

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

huàn change Simplified

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

Components

Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

is a component form of .

Sound component
huàn be numerous

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

biāo mark, symbol Simplified

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

Components

Meaning component
tree
Simplified component
shì show

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

zhǔn accurate Simplified

Original meaning: water-level

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "water-level", a tool to check the flatness of surfaces. The meaning later shifted to "accurate", "rule", and "approve".

Components

Simplified component
bīng ice

Shorthand for the (water) component in the traditional character .

Simplified component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Shorthand for the (sǔn) component in the traditional character .

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangqʷjinʔ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

weight, number Simplified

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

Components

Meaning component
shí stone
Sound component
horse

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

guó nation Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
Sound component
huò or

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwok[C.q]ʷˤək state (n.)

說文解字

《說文》:“國,邦也。从囗,从或。”

Sources

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

property Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
second, next
Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsij[ts]ij property, means of living

說文解字

《說文》:“資,貨也。从貝,次聲。”

Sources

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

xùn inquire Traditional

Depicts a mouth () interrogating a captured prisoner of war (). also represents the sound. The (mouth) component was later reanalyzed as (speech).

Components

Iconic component
yán speech

Originally (mouth). Later reanalyzed as (speech).

SoundIconic component
xùn to fly rapidly

Depicts a captive prisoner with their hands tied behind their back.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsinH[s]i[n]-s ask

說文解字

《說文》:“訊,問也。从言,卂聲。,古文訊从卥。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

huàn change Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

is a component form of .

Sound component
be numerous

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthwanH[ɢ]ʷˤa[n]-s change

說文解字

《說文》:“換,易也。从手,奐聲。”

Sources

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

biāo mark, symbol Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
tree
Sound component
piào slip of paper or bamboo

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangpew
pewʔ
Unicodebiɛu

說文解字

《說文》:“,木杪末也,从木聲。”

Sources

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

accurate Traditional

Original meaning: water-level

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "water-level", a tool to check the flatness of surfaces. The meaning later shifted to "accurate", "rule", and "approve".

Components

Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

is a component form of .

Sound component
sǔn falcon

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsywinXturʔ water-level

說文解字

《說文》:“準,平也。从水,隼聲。”

Sources

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

weight, number Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
shí stone
Sound component
horse

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangmraːʔ

Sources

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