量入为出 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

liàng, liang, liáng measure

Phonosemantic compound. 東 (pictograph of a bag) represents the meaning and 昜 represents the sound.

Components

昜 Sound Remnant component

yáng bright

Modern form written like 旦.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 昜 than it was in ancient scripts.

東 Iconic Remnant component

dōng east

Depicts a bag. Modern form written like 里.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 東 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1)

糧

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	ljang	[r]aŋ	measure (v.)
	ljangH	[r]aŋ-s	measure (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“量，稱輕重也。从重省，曏省聲。，古文量。”

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)

rù enter

Depicts an arrowhead pointing forward, representing the idea "enter".

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	nyip	n[u]p	enter

說文解字

《說文》：“入，內也。象从上俱下也。”

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)

wèi, wéi do Simplified

Simplified form of 為. Pictograph of a hand (又) guiding an elephant (象) to do work (in ancient China elephants were tamed to do work). Based on the meaning "to work; to do".

Components

又 Iconic component

yòu hand

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 又 than it was in ancient scripts.

象 Iconic Simplified component

xiàng elephant

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

伪沩

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.194
Readings & variants: Unicode

chū go out

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

Components

止 Iconic component

zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 止 than it was in ancient scripts.

凵 Iconic component

qiǎn, kǎn enclosure

Depicts a cave.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (2 of 9 verified)

础屈拙咄黜茁绌诎絀

Meaning (2 of 4 verified)

卖茁粜賣

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

祟

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsyhwit	t-kʰut	go or come out
	tsyhwijH	t-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
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

wèi, wéi do Traditional

Originally written as 爲, which depicts a hand (又) guiding an elephant (象) to do work (in ancient China elephants were tamed to do work). Based on the meaning "to work; to do".