荷尼阿拉 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

hé lotus

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

Components

艹 Meaning component

cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

何 Sound component

hé what

Character Evolution

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

嗬

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	ha	[ɡ]ˤaj	lotus
	haX	[ɡ]ˤajʔ	carry
Zhengzhang		qʰaːls
		ɡaːl
		ɡaːlʔ
Unicode	hɑ
	hɑ̌

說文解字

芙蕖葉。从艸何聲。

Sources

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

ní, nǐ Buddhist nun

Original meaning: stop; approach

Depicts one person (匕) carrying another person (尸) on their back. Based on the original meaning "stop; approach". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

尸 Iconic component

shī sitting person

匕 Iconic component

bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (2 of 9 verified)

呢泥妮昵伲怩旎铌坭

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	nejX	nˤərʔ	to stop
	nejH	nˤərʔ-s	to stop, obstruct
	nrij	nr[əj]	near, close

說文解字

《說文》：“尼，從後近之。从尸，匕聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.675-676
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

ā name prefix

Original meaning: hillside

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 可 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "hillside". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

阝 Meaning component

fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

Change in meaning

阝 hints at the original meaning of 阿, "hillside", which is no longer the most common meaning of 阿 in modern Mandarin.

可 Sound component

kě able to

Change in sound

阿 and 可 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
阿 *qˤa[j]
可 *[k]ʰˤa[j]ʔ

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1 of 6 verified)

啊婀锕屙痾錒

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	'a	qˤa[j]	slope, river bank
	'a	ʔˤa (< *qˤaj)	阿會亘 ēhuìxuān: Skt. ābhāsvara “shining” (E. Hàn)

說文解字

大陵也。一曰曲𨸏也。从𨸏可聲。

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)

lā, la pull

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

Components

扌 Meaning component

shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

立 Sound component

lì stand

Change in sound

拉 and 立 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
拉 lop
立 lip

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1)

啦

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	lop	[r]ˤəp	break

說文解字

《說文》：“拉，摧也。从手，立聲。”

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)

荷 hé lotus

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

尼 ní, nǐ Buddhist nun

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (2 of 9 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

阿 ā name prefix

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (1 of 6 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

拉 lā, la pull

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

hé lotus

ní, nǐ Buddhist nun

ā name prefix

lā, la pull