Pictograph of a shirt or coat.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'j+j | ʔ(r)əj | clothes |
| 'j+jH | ʔ(r)əj-s | wear (v.t.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“衣，依也。上曰衣，下曰裳。象覆二人之形。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.663
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Pictograph of a person (元) wearing a hat (冃). 元 also represents the sound. The 寸 (hand) component was added later to possibly indicate the hat is being held and put onto the head.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kwan | [k.ʔ]ˤor | cap (n.) |
| kwanH | k.ʔˤor-s | cap (v.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“冠，絭也。所以絭髮，弁冕之總名也。从冖，从元，元亦聲。冠有法制，从寸。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.612
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: to capture
Pictograph of a net with a handle used for hunting. 今 was added later to represent the sound. Based on the original meaning "to capture", now written as 擒. The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "birds" and "fowl".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | gim | [C.ɢ](r)[ə]m | bird; animal |
| gim | [C.ɢ](r)[ə]m | catch, capture |
說文解字
《說文》：“禽，走獸總名。从，象形，今聲。禽、离、兕，頭相似。”
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)
Simplified
Original meaning: to hunt
Depicts using a hunting tool (單) and a dog (犬) to hunt for and capture wild animals. Original form of 狩. 口 was later added as a distinguishing mark. The meaning later shifted to "beast". The traditional component 犬 was deleted for simplification.
Components
Traditional
Original meaning: to hunt
Depicts using a hunting tool (單) and a dog (犬) to hunt for and capture wild animals. Original form of 狩. 口 was later added as a distinguishing mark. The meaning later shifted to "beast".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | syuwH | s.tʰu(ʔ)-s | (wild) animal |
說文解字
《說文》：“獸，守備者。从嘼，从犬。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.1270劉志基《中國漢字文物大系》Vol. 14, p.393何琳儀《戰國古文字典：戰國文字聲系》p.218
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)