顶梁柱
dǐng​liáng​zhù

backbone

顶 dǐng top Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 页 represents the meaning and 丁 represents the sound. Simplified form of 頂.

Components

丁
丁 Sound component
dīng cubes
页
页 Meaning component
yè page

Depicts a head.

Sources

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

梁 liáng, liang bridge

Phonosemantic compound. 氵and 木 represent the meaning and 刅 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water
刅
刅 Sound component
chuāng to create
木
木 Meaning component
mù tree

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Xin 9-23 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

粱墚樑

Remnant (0 of 1 verified)

粱

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

樑

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartljangraŋ beam; bridge

說文解字

《說文》：“梁，水橋也。从木，从水，刅聲。渿，古文。”

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)

柱 zhù pillar

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 主 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
主
主 Sound component
zhǔ master

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdrjuXm-t<r>oʔpillar
Zhengzhangtoʔ
doʔ
Unicodedjhiǒ

說文解字

楹也。从木主聲。

Sources

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

頂 dǐng top Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 頁 represents the meaning and 丁 represents the sound.

Components

丁
丁 Sound component
dīng cubes
頁
頁 Meaning component
yè (head), page

Depicts a head.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttengXtˤeŋʔ top of the head

說文解字

《說文》：“頂，顛也。从頁，丁聲。，或从作。，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)