艺伎
yì​jì

geisha

艺 yì skill, art Simplified

Original meaning: to plant

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 乙 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "to plant". The meaning later shifted to "skill" and "art". Simplified form of 藝.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

Change in meaning
艹 hints at the original meaning of 艺, "to plant", which is no longer the most common meaning of 艺 in modern Mandarin.
乙
乙 Sound component
yǐ second

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

呓

Sources

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

伎 jì, zhì, qí talent

A man 亻 who can support 支 someone

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person
支
支 Meaning component
zhī support, hold up

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartgjeX[ɡ]reʔskill
Zhengzhangkjes
ɡe
ɡreʔ

說文解字

與也。从人支聲。《詩》曰：“𥷤人伎忒。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

藝 yì skill, art Traditional

Original meaning: to plant

Originally written as 埶. The 艹 component was added later, based on the original meaning "to plant". The meaning later shifted to "skill" and "art".

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

Change in meaning
艹 hints at the original meaning of 藝, "to plant", which is no longer the most common meaning of 藝 in modern Mandarin.
埶
埶 SoundMeaning component
yì, shì art, skill
云
云 Unknown component
yún clouds

Corruption of the bottom part of the 丮 component in 埶.

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

囈

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngjiejHŋet-s (MC I!)cultivation, art, skill

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.218
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica