脱胎换骨
tuō​tāi​huàn​gǔ

reborn

脱 tuō take off Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 兑 represents the sound. Simplified form of 脫.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

兑
兑 Sound component
duì, ruì, duó exchange
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdwajHlˤot-s easy, leisurely
dwatlˤot remove outer covering
thwatmə-l̥ˤot peel off

Sources

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

胎 tāi unborn child

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

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

台
台 Sound component
tái platform

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartthojl̥ˤə fetus

說文解字

《說文》：“胎，婦孕三月也。从肉，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)

换 huàn change Simplified

Simplified form of 換. Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 奐 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

奂
奂 Sound component
huàn be numerous

Sources

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

骨 gǔ, gú bone

Pictograph of a bone (冎) with a muscle (肉) attached to it.

Components

冎
冎 SoundIconic component
guǎ bone
肉
肉 Iconic component
ròu meat

Deceptively similar but unrelated to 月.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 肉 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (4 of 21 verified)

骸髓骼骷髅骰體骶髁髋髂骱髌髑髀骺骯髒髕髏髖

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

滑猾鹘鶻

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwotkˤut bone

說文解字

《說文》：“骨，肉之覈也。从冎，有肉。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.336
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

脫 tuō take off Traditional

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

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

兌
兌 Sound component
exchange
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

《說文》：“脫，消肉臞也。从肉，兌聲。”

Sources

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

換 huàn change Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 奐 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

奐
奐 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
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)