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: good
Simplified form of 慶. Depicts a legendary animal considered to be good (廌) and a heart (心).
Components
广 Simplified component
Shorthand for the top part of the traditional character 慶.
大 Simplified component
Shorthand for the bottom part of the traditional character 慶.
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
Traditional
Original meaning: outer door
Pictograph of a gate.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | mwon | mˤə[r] | gate, door |
說文解字
《說文》：“門，聞也。从二戶，象形。”
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | khjaengH | [kʰ]raŋ-s | happy, rejoice |
說文解字
《說文》：“慶，行賀人也。从心，从夊，吉禮以鹿皮為贄，故从鹿省。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.791-792
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)