bèi​chū

emerge in succession

bèi generation, lifetime Simplified

Original meaning: large group of chariots

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "large group of chariots". The meaning later shifted to "group of things" and "generation". Simplified form of .

Components

Sound component
fēi not
Meaning component
chē cart, vehicle
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "large group of chariots", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Sources

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

chū go out

Pictograph of a foot () exiting a cave ().

Components

Iconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Iconic component
qiǎn, kǎn enclosure

Depicts a cave.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 9 verified)

Meaning (2 of 4 verified)

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyhwitt-kʰut go or come out
tsyhwijHt-kʰut-s bring or take out

說文解字

《說文》:“出,進也。象艸木益滋上出達也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.501-502
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

bèi generation, lifetime Traditional

Original meaning: large group of chariots

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "large group of chariots". The meaning later shifted to "group of things" and "generation".

Components

Sound component
fēi not
Meaning component
chē cart, vehicle
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "large group of chariots", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangpuːls
Unicodebə̀i

說文解字

《說文》:“輩,若軍發車百兩為一輩。从車,非聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica