阿莱奇冰川
ā​lái​qí​bīng​chuān

Aletsch Glacier

阿 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
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
可 Sound component
kě able to
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 6 verified)

啊婀锕屙痾錒

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'aqˤa[j] slope, river bank
'aʔˤa (< *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)

莱 lái goosefoot weed Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 来 represents the sound. Simplified form of 萊.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

来
来 Sound component
lái come

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

奇 qí strange

Phonosemantic compound. 大 represents the meaning and 可 represents the sound.

Components

大
大 Meaning component
dà, dài big
可
可 Sound component
kě able to
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 18 verified)

骑寄椅倚崎畸琦绮犄旖猗欹剞齮掎騎綺埼

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

畸

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkje[k](r)aj odd (number)
gjeN-k(r)aj strange

說文解字

《說文》：“奇，異也。一曰不耦。从大，从可。”

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)

冰 bīng ice

Depicts chunks (冫) of frozen water (水).

Components

冫
冫 Iconic component
bīng ice

冫 is a component form of 冰. Depicts chunks of ice.

水
水 Meaning component
shuǐ water

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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-Sagartpingp.rəŋ (dialect: *p.r- > *pr-)ice

說文解字

《說文》：“冰，水堅也。从仌，从水。凝，俗冰从疑。”

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)

川 chuān stream

Pictograph of a river.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 10 verified)

顺训圳驯氚钏訓順馴釧

Meaning (1 of 4 verified)

圳侃夼巟

Iconic (1)

㐬

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyhwent.l̥u[n] (MC -jwen is irregular)stream, river

說文解字

《說文》：“川，貫穿通流水也。《虞書》曰：‘濬巜距川’，言深巜之水會為川也。”

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)

萊 goosefoot weed Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 來 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

來
來 Sound component
lái come

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangrɯː
rɯːs
Unicodeləi

說文解字

《說文》：“萊，蔓華也。从艸，來聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)