Original meaning: conform, obey
Pictograph of a kneeling person smoothing out their unkempt hair with their hands. Based on the original meaning "conform, obey". The 口 (mouth) component was added later when the character became more abstract.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nyak | nak | you |
| nyak | nak | agree |
說文解字
《說文》：“若，擇菜也。从艸、右。右，手也。一曰杜若，香艸。”
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)
Pictograph of a person (人) wearing an ornament resembling sheep horns (羊). Alludes to the Qiang people, who are known for their lifestyle with sheep. 羊 also represents the sound. Similar in origin to 美.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Sound (0 of 1 verified)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | khjang | C.qʰaŋ | western tribes |
說文解字
《說文》：“羌，西戎牧羊人也。从人，从羊，羊亦聲。南方蠻閩从虫，北方狄从犬，東方貉从豸，西方羌从羊，此六種也。西南人、僬僥从人，蓋在坤地，頗有順理之性。唯東夷从大，大，人也。夷俗仁，仁者壽，有君子不死之國。孔子曰：‘道不行，欲之九夷，乘桴浮於海，有以也。’，古文羌如此。”
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)