Original meaning: type of bird
Phonosemantic compound. 隹 represents the meaning and 户 represents the sound. Originally was the name of a type of bird. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kuH | [C.q]ʷˤa(ʔ)-s | to hire |
說文解字
《說文》：“雇，九雇，農桑候鳥，扈民不婬者也。从隹，戶聲。春雇鳻盾，夏雇竊玄，秋雇竊藍，冬雇竊黃，棘雇竊丹，行雇唶唶，宵雇嘖嘖，桑雇竊脂，老雇鷃也。，雇或从雩，，籀文雇，从鳥。”
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)
Simplified
Traditional
Original meaning: round
Depicts the round opening (口) of a cooking pot (鼎). Based on the original meaning "round", now written as 圓. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | hjwen | ɢʷ<r>en | circle; round |
| hjun | [ɢ]ʷə[n] | (a particle) |
說文解字
《說文》：“員，物數也。从貝，口聲。鼎，籀文从鼎。”
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)