Original meaning: long river
Same origin as 永. Pictograph of a long river with a tributary. The meaning later shifted to "overflow" and "spill over".
Character Evolution
Component uses
Sound (1)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | yenX | N-q(r)anʔ | overflow |
說文解字
《說文》:“衍,水朝宗于海也。从水,从行。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.796裘錫圭《裘錫圭學術文集》Vol 1, p.382
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | sraeng | sreŋ (MC srj- > sr-; or *s.reŋ ?) | bear, be born; live |
| sraeng | sreŋ | fresh, raw | |
| srjaeng | sreŋ (or *s.reŋ ?) | bear, be born; live |
說文解字
《說文》:“生,進也。象艸木生出土上。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.506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)
Simplified
Triple of 口. Depicts several types of things together.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | phimX | pʰr[ə]mʔ | kind, class |
說文解字
《說文》:“品,眾庶也。从三口。”
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)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | sreanX | s-ŋrarʔ | bear (v.), produce |
說文解字
《說文》:“產,生也。从生,彥省聲。”
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)