西 was written two different ways in ancient scripts: (1) a pictograph of a bird's nest, and (2) a variant of the phonetically similar 囟.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | sej | s-nˤər | west |
| sej | s-nˤər | west |
說文解字
《說文》:“西,鳥在巢上,象形。日在西方而鳥棲,故因以為東西之西。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.831-832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 store
Simplified form of 奧. Depicts two hands (廾) hiding rice (米) in a corner or a container. Based on the original meaning "to store". The meaning later shifted to "obscure", "profound", and "mysterious".
Components
Component uses
說文解字
宛也。室之西南隅。从宀𢍏聲。
Sources
- Character origin
- 鄔可晶《釋「奧」》Wiktionary (JA)
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Depicts two pieces of meat together to convey the meaning "much" or "plentiful". In ancient China meat was a rare treat. Unrelated to 夕.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ta | [t.l]ˤaj | many |
說文解字
《說文》:“多,重也。从重夕。夕者,相繹也,故為多。重夕為多,重日為。,古文多。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.557
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: cut
Phonosemantic compound. 斤 represents the meaning and 其 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "cut". Nowadays this character is usually only used for its sound in phonetic loans.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | sje | [s]e | split (v.) |
| sje | [s]e | this | |
| sje | se | 斯須 a short time |
說文解字
《說文》:“斯,析也。从斤,其聲。《詩》曰:‘斧以斯之。’”
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)
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pjuwk | pək | blessing |
說文解字
《說文》:“福,祐也。从示,畐聲。”
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)
Traditional
Original meaning: to store
Depicts two hands (廾) hiding rice (米) in a corner or a container. Based on the original meaning "to store". The meaning later shifted to "obscure", "profound", and "mysterious".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Sound (1)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'awH | ʔˤuk-s | southwest corner of a house |
| 'juwk | ʔ(r)uk | cove in the bank of a stream |
說文解字
《說文》:“奧,宛也。室之西南隅。从宀,聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 鄔可晶《釋「奧」》Wiktionary (JA)
- 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 | la | rˤaj | a kind of net (on a handle?) (Shuōwén: 'bird net') |
說文解字
《說文》:“羅,以絲罟鳥也。从网,从維。古者芒氏初作羅。”
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)