阿拉斯加雪橇犬 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)

sī this

Original meaning: cut

Phonosemantic compound. 斤 represents the meaning and 其 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "cut". Nowadays this character is usually only used for its sound in phonetic loans.

Components

斤 Meaning component

jīn axe

其 Sound component

qí its, his, (3p possessive)

Change in sound

斯 and 其 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
斯 *se
其 *gə

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

撕嘶厮澌廝

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	sje	[s]e	split (v.)
	sje	[s]e	this
	sje	se	斯須 a short time

說文解字

《說文》：“斯，析也。从斤，其聲。《詩》曰：‘斧以斯之。’”

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)

jiā add

Depicts making loud noises with the mouth (口) to add power (力) during manual labor.

Components

力 Meaning component

lì, li power

口 Meaning component

kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (6 of 17 verified)

架驾贺嘉咖迦伽茄枷瘸袈痂珈跏笳賀駕

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

珈哿

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kae	kˤraj	add

說文解字

《說文》：“加，語相增加也。从力，从口。”

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)

xuě snow

Phonosemantic compound. 雨 represents the meaning and 彗 represents the sound.

Components

雨 Meaning component

yǔ rain

彗 Sound Remnant component

huì, suì broom

Change in sound

雪 and 彗 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
雪 sjwet
彗 zjwejH

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

鳕鱈

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	sjwet	[s]ot	snow

說文解字

《說文》：“，凝雨說物者。”

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)

qiāo a sledge for transportation

Components

木 Meaning component

mù tree

wood

毳 Sound component

cuì, qiāo, xiā fine hair or fur on animals

Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	skʰrods
	kʰrow

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang

quǎn dog

Pictograph of a dog.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khwenX	[k]ʷʰˤ[e][n]ʔ	dog

說文解字

《說文》：“犬，狗之有縣蹏者也。象形。孔子曰：‘視犬之字如畫狗也。’”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.750
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

斯 sī this

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

加 jiā add

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (6 of 17 verified)

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

雪 xuě snow

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

橇 qiāo a sledge for transportation

Components

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

犬 quǎn dog

Character Evolution

Component uses

Meaning (8 of 15 verified)

Iconic (10)

Unknown (2)

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Deleted (1)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

ā name prefix

lā, la pull

sī this

jiā add

xuě snow

qiāo a sledge for transportation

quǎn dog