贺词
hè​cí

congratulations

贺 hè congratulate Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 贝 represents the meaning and 加 represents the sound. Simplified form of 賀.

Components

加
加 Sound component
jiā add
Change in sound
贝
贝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

词 cí words Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 讠 represents the meaning and 司 represents the sound. Simplified form of 詞.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

司
司 Sound component
sī take charge of

Sources

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

賀 hè congratulate Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 加 represents the sound.

Components

加
加 Sound component
jiā add
Change in sound
貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthaHm-kˤaj-s congratulate

說文解字

《說文》：“賀，以禮相奉慶也。从貝，加聲。”

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)

詞 cí words Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 司 represents the sound.

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
司
司 Sound component
sī take charge of

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartzisə.lə utterance

說文解字

《說文》：“詞，意內而言外也。从司，从言。”

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)