阿拉伯数字 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

ā name prefix

Original meaning: hillside

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 可 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "hillside". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

阝 Meaning component

fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

Change in meaning

阝 hints at the original meaning of 阿, "hillside", which is no longer the most common meaning of 阿 in modern Mandarin.

可 Sound component

kě able to

Change in sound

阿 and 可 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
阿 *qˤa[j]
可 *[k]ʰˤa[j]ʔ

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1 of 6 verified)

啊婀锕屙痾錒

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	'a	qˤa[j]	slope, river bank
	'a	ʔˤa (< *qˤaj)	阿會亘 ēhuìxuān: Skt. ābhāsvara “shining” (E. Hàn)

說文解字

大陵也。一曰曲𨸏也。从𨸏可聲。

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)

lā, la pull

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 立 represents the sound.

Components

扌 Meaning component

shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

立 Sound component

lì stand

Change in sound

拉 and 立 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
拉 lop
立 lip

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1)

啦

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	lop	[r]ˤəp	break

說文解字

《說文》：“拉，摧也。从手，立聲。”

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)

bó, bo older brother, uncle

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 白 represents the sound.

Components

亻 Meaning component

rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

白 Sound component

bái, bai white

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	paek	pˤrak	father’s elder brother

說文解字

《說文》：“伯，長也。从人，白聲。”

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)

shù, shǔ, shu number Simplified

Simplified form of 數. Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 婁 represents the sound.

Components

攵 Meaning component

pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

娄 Sound component

lóu, lǚ, lǘ surname

Change in sound

数 and 娄 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
数 srjuX
娄 lju

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

擞薮

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

zì, zi letter

Original meaning: raise up children

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 子 represents the sound. The 宀 (roof) component is based on the original meaning "raise up children". The meaning later shifted to "educate", "word", and "writing".

Components

宀 Meaning component

mián roof

Change in meaning

宀 hints at the original meaning of 字, "raise up children", which is no longer the most common meaning of 字 in modern Mandarin.

子 Sound Meaning component

zi, zǐ child

Change in meaning

子 hints at the original meaning of 字, "raise up children", which is no longer the most common meaning of 字 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

牸

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dziH	mə-dzə(ʔ)-s	breed, love (v.); character

說文解字

《說文》：“字，乳也。从子在宀下，子亦聲。”

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)

shù, shǔ, shu number Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 婁 represents the sound.

Components

攵 Meaning component

pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

婁 Sound component

surname

Change in sound

數 and 婁 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
數 srjuX
婁 lju

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

擻藪

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	srjuX	s-roʔ	count (v.)
	srjuH	s-roʔ-s	number (n.)
	sraewk	s-rok	frequently

說文解字

《說文》：“數，計也。从攴，婁聲。”

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)

阿 ā name prefix

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (1 of 6 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

拉 lā, la pull

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

伯 bó, bo older brother, uncle

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

数 shù, shǔ, shu number Simplified

Components

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

字 zì, zi letter

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

數 shù, shǔ, shu number Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

ā name prefix

lā, la pull

bó, bo older brother, uncle

shù, shǔ, shu number Simplified

zì, zi letter

shù, shǔ, shu number Traditional