象棋赛
xiàng​qí​sài

chess tournament

象 xiàng elephant

Pictograph of an elephant.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (3)

为為爲

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

像橡蟓

Simplified (1)

为

Meaning (1)

豫

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartzjangXs.[d]aŋʔ elephant

說文解字

《說文》：“象，長鼻牙，南越大獸，三年一乳。象耳牙四足之形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.740
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

棋 qí chess

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 其 represents the sound. Simplified form of 碁.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
其
其 Sound component
qí its, his, (3p possessive)

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgi[ɡ](r)əchess, board game
Zhengzhangɡɯ
Unicodeghiə

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

赛 sài compete Simplified

Original meaning: thank offering

Simplified form of 賽. Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 𡨄 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "thank offering". The meaning later shifted to "compete".

Components

𡨄
𡨄 Sound component
sāi, xià to stop up

𡨄 is a component form of 塞.

贝
贝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

Shells were used as currency in ancient China.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

賽 sài compete Traditional

Original meaning: thank offering

Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 𡨄 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "thank offering". The meaning later shifted to "compete".

Components

𡨄
𡨄 Sound component
sāi, xià to stop up

𡨄 is a component form of 塞.

貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

Shells were used as currency in ancient China.

Character Evolution

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 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangslɯːɡs

說文解字

《說文新附》：“賽，報也。从貝，塞省聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)