铭刻
míng​kè

inscription

铭 míng inscribe Simplified

To carve 钅 one's name 名; 名 also provides the pronunciation

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal
名
名 SoundMeaning component
míng name

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

刻 kè carve

Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 亥 represents the sound.

Components

亥
亥 Sound component
hài, jiē 12th terrestrial branch
Change in sound
刂
刂 Meaning component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhok[kʰ]ˤək cut, engrave

說文解字

《說文》：“刻，鏤也。从刀，亥聲。”

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)

銘 inscribe Traditional

To carve 釒 one's name 名; 名 also provides the pronunciation

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal
名
名 SoundMeaning component
míng name

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmengmˤeŋinscription
Zhengzhangmeːŋ
Unicodemeng

說文解字

記也。从金名聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)