聘娶婚
pìn​qǔ​hūn

betrothal marriage

聘 pìn, pìng hire, employ

Phonosemantic compound. 耳 represents the meaning and 甹 represents the sound.

Components

耳
耳 Meaning component
ěr ear
甹
甹 Sound component
pīng chivalrous knight

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjiengHp.leŋ-s inquire; invite

說文解字

《說文》：“聘，訪也。从耳，甹聲。”

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)

娶 qǔ marry

Depicts taking (取) a woman (女) for a man to marry. 取 also represents the sound.

Components

取
取 SoundMeaning component
qǔ take
女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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-SagarttshjuH[ts]ʰoʔ-s take a wife

說文解字

《說文》：“娶，取婦也。从女，从取，取亦聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫中華語文知識庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

婚 hūn get married

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 昏 represents the sound.

Components

女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman
昏
昏 Sound component
hūn, hún twilight

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxwonm̥ˤu[n] marriage

說文解字

《說文》：“婚，婦家也。禮，娶婦以昏時。婦人陰也，故曰婚。从女，从昏，昏亦聲。，籀文婚。”

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)