陶艺师
táo​yì​shī

potter

陶 táo pottery

A mound 阝 of clay 匋; 匋 also provides the pronunciation

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place
匋
匋 SoundMeaning component
táo, yáo pottery

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangbl'uː
luː
Unicodedhɑu

說文解字

再成丘也，在濟陰。从𨸏匋聲。《夏書》曰：“東至于陶丘。”陶丘有堯城，堯嘗所居，故堯號陶唐氏。

Sources

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

艺 yì skill, art Simplified

Original meaning: to plant

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 乙 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "to plant". The meaning later shifted to "skill" and "art". Simplified form of 藝.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

Change in meaning
艹 hints at the original meaning of 艺, "to plant", which is no longer the most common meaning of 艺 in modern Mandarin.
乙
乙 Sound component
yǐ second

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

呓

Sources

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

师 shī teacher Simplified

Simplified form of 師. 𠂤 and 帀 both represent the sound.

Components

刂
刂 Simplified component
dāo knife

Shorthand for the 𠂤 component in the traditional character 師.

帀
帀 Sound component
zā to go round

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

狮筛蛳浉

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.500-501
Readings & variants
Unicode

藝 yì skill, art Traditional

Original meaning: to plant

Originally written as 埶. The 艹 component was added later, based on the original meaning "to plant". The meaning later shifted to "skill" and "art".

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

Change in meaning
艹 hints at the original meaning of 藝, "to plant", which is no longer the most common meaning of 藝 in modern Mandarin.
埶
埶 SoundMeaning component
yì, shì art, skill
云
云 Unknown component
yún clouds

Corruption of the bottom part of the 丮 component in 埶.

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

囈

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngjiejHŋet-s (MC I!)cultivation, art, skill

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.218
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

師 shī teacher Traditional

𠂤 and 帀 both represent the sound.

Components

𠂤
𠂤 Sound component
duī mound
Change in sound
帀
帀 Sound component
zā to go round
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (3)

官遣𠳋

Remnant (3)

官遣𠳋

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

篩螄獅

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsrijsrij army
srijsrij master

說文解字

《說文》：“師，二千五百人為師。从帀，从。，四帀眾意也。，古文師。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.500-501
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)