zǒu​lòu​xiāo​xi

leak secrets

zǒu walk

Originally written as , depicting a person swaying their arms () while walking quickly. The foot component was added later.

Components

Iconic component
yāo, wò, wāi die young

Depicts a person walking quickly.

Meaning component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsuwX[ts]ˤoʔ run

說文解字

《說文》:“走,趨也。从夭、止,夭止者,屈也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.108漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

lòu leak

Originally written as , which depicts rainwater () leaking through a house roof (). The (water) component was added later to clarify the meaning.

Components

Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

is a component form of .

SoundIconic component
lòu to leak

Depicts rainwater () leaking through a house roof ().

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartluwH[Nə-r]ˤok-s leak (v.)

說文解字

《說文》:“漏,以銅受水刻節,晝夜百刻。从水,屚聲。”

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.1011, 1025許進雄《新編進階甲骨文字典: 甲骨文發現120周年紀念版》p.204
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

xiāo vanish

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

is a component form of .

Sound component
xiào look like

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsjew[s]ew dissolve; disappear

說文解字

《說文》:“消,盡也。从水,肖聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

xi, xī breathe, rest

Depicts a breath of air going into the nose (). The lines representing breath were later reanalyzed as (heart).

Components

Iconic component
(nose), self

was the original form of (bí; nose).

Iconic component
characterless component

Originally lines depicting breath. Later reanalyzed as (heart).


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsiksək breathe
siksək 安息 Ānxī (Iranian country in the western regions, W. Hàn; from Aršaka = Arsaces, founder of the Arsacid dynasty)

說文解字

《說文》:“息,喘也。从心,从自,自亦聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica