A village (里) is an area of land (土) where people have fields (田). In simplified Chinese 里 is also used to mean "inside", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 裡.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | liX | (mə.)rəʔ | li (measure of distance); village |
說文解字
《說文》：“里，居也。从田，从土。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.913
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Pictograph of an object related to pottery.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ngwaeX | C.ŋʷˤra[j]ʔ | roof tile |
說文解字
《說文》：“瓦，土器已燒之總名。象形。”
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)
Simplified
Pictograph of a small table. In simplified Chinese 几 is also used to mean "how much", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 幾.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kijX | C.kr[ə]jʔ | stool |
說文解字
《說文》：“几，踞几也。象形。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.929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)
Simplified
Original meaning: tomb
Simplified form of 亞. Depicts a wooden structure where coffins are placed. Based on the original meaning "tomb". The current meaning "Asia" is a phonetic loan.
Simplified
Traditional
Original meaning: danger
Depicts a weapon (戈) cutting ropes (𢆶) tied around a person (人). Based on the original meaning "danger". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kj+j | kəj | small; almost |
| kj+jX | kəjʔ | few; how many |
說文解字
《說文》：“幾，微也，殆也。从，从戍。戍，兵守也。而兵守者危也。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.318-319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)
Traditional
Original meaning: tomb
Depicts a wooden structure where coffins are placed. Based on the original meaning "tomb". The current meaning "Asia" is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'aeH | ʔˤrak-s | secondary |
說文解字
《說文》：“亞，醜也。象人局背之形。賈侍中說以為次弟也。”
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)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dew | [l]ˤiw | arrange |
| dew | lˤiw | branch (n.), shoot (n.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“條，小枝也。从木，攸聲。”
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)
Traditional
Original meaning: bind
Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 勺 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bind". The meaning later shifted to "agreement", "restrain", "keep under control", "appointment", and "approximately".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'jiewH | [q]ewk-s | bond, agreement (n.) |
| 'jak | [q](r)ewk | bind (v.), make an agreement |
說文解字
《說文》：“約，纏束也。从糸，勺聲。”
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)