Original meaning: vessel with a neck
Pictograph of a stemmed bowl. Based on the original meaning "vessel with a neck". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | duwH | [N.t]ˤo-s | bean |
| duwH | [d]ˤok-s | vessel with a neck |
說文解字
《說文》：“豆，古食肉器也。从口，象形。，古文豆。”
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)
Original meaning: harvest
Pictograph of a person (人) harvesting grain (禾). The harvest season is a yearly event.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nen | C.nˤi[ŋ] | harvest; year |
說文解字
《說文》：“年，穀孰也。从禾，千聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.574-575
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Simplified
Traditional
Original meaning: flower
Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 𠌶 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "flower", now written as 花. The meaning later shifted to "blossoming", "flourishing" and "magnificent".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | xwae | qʷʰˤra | flower (n.) |
| hwae | N-qʷʰˤra | flower (v.); flowery (adj.) | |
| hwaeH | [ɢ]ʷˤra-s | [name of a mountain] |
說文解字
榮也。从艸从𠌶。凡華之屬皆从華。
Sources
- Character origin
- 李学勤《字源》p.554-555
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)