ā​lǔ​bāā​lǔ​bā

happy corner

ā name prefix

Original meaning: hillside

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

Components

Meaning component
hill, place

is a component form of .

Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "hillside", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
Sound component
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)

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

lǔ, lǚ foolish, rude Simplified

Original meaning: tasty

Simplified form of . Depicts a fish () inside the mouth (). Based on the original meaning "tasty". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

SoundIconic component
fish
Iconic component
gān sweetness

Depicts something inside the mouth.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

Sources

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

ba, bā to wish

Depicts a person grabbing something with their hand. Original form of . In modern Chinese this character is usually used only for its sound.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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

Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpaepˤra snake
paepˤra [place name]

說文解字

《說文》:“巴,蟲也。或曰食象蛇。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.1637
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

foolish, rude Traditional

Original meaning: tasty

Depicts a fish () inside the mouth (). Based on the original meaning "tasty". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

SoundIconic component
fish
Iconic component
gān sweetness

Depicts something inside the mouth.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartluX[r]ˤaʔ dull, blunt, simple
luXr.ŋˤaʔ (dialect > *rŋˤ- > *rˤ- > MC l-)(place name)

說文解字

《說文》:“魯,鈍詞也。从白,鮺省聲。《論語》曰:‘參也魯。’”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica