落叶归根 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

luòyèguīgēnLuòyèguīgēn

returning home

luò, là fall

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

Components

艹 Meaning component

cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸. Alludes to leaves falling from trees.

洛 Sound component

luò river in Shanxi province

Character Evolution

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	lak	kə.rˤak	fall (v.)

說文解字

凡艸曰零，木曰落。从艸洛聲。

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)

yè be in harmony, leaf Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 十 represents the sound. Originally a variant of 協 (cooperate). Later used as the simplified form of the phonetically similar character 葉 (leaf).

Components

口 Meaning component

kǒu, kou mouth

Based on the meaning "cooperate", "be in harmony". Unrelated to "leaf".

十 Sound component

shí ten

Change in sound

叶 and 十 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
叶 *l[a]p
十 *t.[g]əp

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin: Wiktionary
Readings & variants: Unicode

guī return Simplified

Simplified form of 歸. Phonosemantic compound. 𠂤 represents the sound while 止 and 帚 represent the meaning.

Components

刂 Simplified component

dāo knife

Shorthand for the 𠂤 component in the traditional character 歸.

彐 Simplified component

jì snout

Shorthand for the 帚 component in the traditional character 歸.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

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

gēn root

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 艮 represents the sound.

Components

木 Meaning component

mù tree

艮 Sound component

gěn, gèn, hén blunt

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kon	[k]ˤə[r]	root, trunk

說文解字

《說文》：“根，木株也。从木，艮聲。”

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)

yè leaf Traditional

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

Components

艹 Meaning component

cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

枼 Sound Meaning component

yè leaf

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	yep	l[a]p	leaf

說文解字

《說文》：“葉，艸木之葉也。从艸，枼聲。”

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)

guī return Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 𠂤 represents the sound while 止 and 帚 represent the meaning.

Components

𠂤 Sound component

duī mound

止 Meaning component

zhǐ (foot), stop

帚 Meaning component

zhou broom

Alludes to soldiers sweeping away enemies when returning home victoriously.

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 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

Clerical form — Clerical Qin 221-206 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kjw+j	[k]ʷəj	return (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“歸，女嫁也。从止，从婦省，聲。，籀文，省。”

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)