茶马互市 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

Chámǎhùshì

tea-horse trade

chá tea

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 余 represents the sound.

Components

艹 Meaning component

cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

余 Sound component

yú I

Change in sound

茶 and 余 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
茶 *lˤra
余 *la

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	drae	lˤra	(name of a plant)

Sources

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

mǎ horse Simplified

Simplified form of 馬. Pictograph of a horse.

Component uses

Meaning (6 of 57 verified)

Sound (5 of 8 verified)

吗妈玛码骂蚂犸杩

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.741-742漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode

hù mutual

Depicts two symmetric figures intertwining with each other.

Character Evolution

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	huH	m-qˤaʔ-s	intertwining

說文解字

《說文》：“，可以收繩也。从竹，象形，中象人手所推握也。互，或省。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.375-376
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

shì market

Origin unclear. 止 represents the sound.

Components

止 Sound component

zhǐ (foot), stop

Change in form

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

兮 Unknown component

xī exclamatory particle

The original purpose of this component is unclear.

Change in form

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

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Seal form — Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Seal form — Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Qin 221-206 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 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

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Component uses

Meaning (2)

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dzyiX	C.[d]əʔ	market (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“市，買賣所之也。市有垣，从冂，从乁。乁，古文及，象物相及也。之省聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.499-450
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

mǎ horse Traditional

Pictograph of a horse.

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Qin 221-206 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Qin 221-206 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 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

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Meaning (8 of 49 verified)

驗驚驩駮騾驅驀驟駕駝驌騙驊馮馳駛騎驎羈駐騁騫騷驢驦馴騰驕驥驛駁馭騶馱騭駟駑駒騖駢駱騅駿驪駭驤騮闖駙 show all 49 show fewer

Sound (5 of 6 verified)

碼螞罵嗎瑪媽

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	maeX	mˤraʔ	horse

說文解字

《說文》：“馬，怒也；武也。象馬頭髦尾四足之形。，古文。，籀文馬與同，有髦。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.741-742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)