Original meaning: slave; servant
Depicts a weapon (戈) slashing an eye (臣). In ancient China, captured prisoners were blinded with weapons making them into slaves. 爿 was later added as a sound component. Based on the original meaning, "slave; servant". The current meaning "good" is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tsang | [ts]ˤaŋ | good |
說文解字
《說文》:“臧,善也。从臣,戕聲。,籀文。”
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)