顷刻 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

qǐngkè

instantly

qǐng a measure of area equal to 100 畝 (mu) ~ 6.7 hectares Simplified

Original meaning: to have an inclined head

Simplified form of 頃. Depicts a person (匕) with their head (页) tilted or askew. Based on the original meaning "to have an inclined head", now written as 倾. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

匕 Iconic component

bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Depicts a person.

页 Iconic component

yè page

Depicts a tilted head.

Component uses

Sound (1)

倾

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫 zi.tools黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.2133
Readings & variants: Unicode

kè carve

Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 亥 represents the sound.

Components

亥 Sound component

hài, jiē 12th terrestrial branch

Change in sound

刻 and 亥 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
刻 *[kʰ]ˤək
亥 *[g]ˤəʔ

刂 Meaning component

dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khok	[kʰ]ˤək	cut, engrave

說文解字

《說文》：“刻，鏤也。从刀，亥聲。”

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)

qǐng a measure of area equal to 100 畝 (mu) ~ 6.7 hectares Traditional

Original meaning: to have an inclined head

Depicts a person (匕) with their head (頁) tilted or askew. Based on the original meaning "to have an inclined head", now written as 傾. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

匕 Iconic component

bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Depicts a person.

頁 Iconic component

yè (head), page

Depicts a tilted head.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (1)

傾

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khjwiengX	[k]ʷʰeŋʔ	interval, short while

說文解字

《說文》：“頃，頭不正也。从匕，从頁。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫 zi.tools黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.2133
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

顷 qǐng a measure of area equal to 100 畝 (mu) ~ 6.7 hectares Simplified

Components

Component uses

Sound (1)

Sources

刻 kè carve

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

頃 qǐng a measure of area equal to 100 畝 (mu) ~ 6.7 hectares Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

qǐng a measure of area equal to 100 畝 (mu) ~ 6.7 hectares Simplified

kè carve

qǐng a measure of area equal to 100 畝 (mu) ~ 6.7 hectares Traditional