街坊四邻
jiē​fang​sì​lín

neighbors

街 jiē street

Phonosemantic compound. 行 represents the meaning and 圭 represents the sound.

Components

行
行 Meaning component
xíng, háng walk
圭
圭 Sound component
guī jade pointed at top
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkea[k]ˤre road-crossing

說文解字

《說文》：“街，四通道也。从行，圭聲。”

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)

坊 fang neighborhood

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 方 represents the sound.

Components

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth
方
方 Sound component
fāng, fang square

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjang[b]aŋdike
Zhengzhangpaŋ
baŋ
Unicodebiɑng

說文解字

邑里之名。从土方聲。古通用埅。

Sources

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

四 sì four

In ancient texts the character 亖 (four horizontal strokes) was used. The current form 四 depicts breathing through the nose and is the original form of 呬. The use of 四 as a number is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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 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 Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

泗驷呬駟

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

驷駟

Iconic (1)

呬

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsijHs.li[j]-s four

說文解字

《說文》：“四，陰數也。象四分之形。，古文四。亖，籀文四。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.948
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

邻 lín neighbor Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 令 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鄰.

Components

令
令 Sound component
lìng command
阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Regular Modern

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica

鄰 lín neighbor Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 粦 represents the sound and 阝 represents the meaning.

Components

粦
粦 Sound component
lín will-o'-the wisp, phosphorus
阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlin(mə.)rə[n] group of 5 families; neighbor

說文解字

五家爲鄰。从邑粦聲。

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)