fēi​yě​shì​de

very fast

fēi fly Simplified

Simplified form of . Pictograph of a flying bird.

Sources

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

also

Original meaning: cry

Depicts a child opening its mouth to cry. Original form of . The modern meaning is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 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 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 Qin 221-206 BC
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (5 of 12 verified)

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartyaeXlAjʔ (final particle)

說文解字

《說文》:“也,女陰也。象形。,秦刻石也字。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.859
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

shì, sì resemble

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
rén person

is a component form of .

Sound component
by means of
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartziXsə.ləʔ resemble

Sources

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

de, dì, dí [possessive]

Original meaning: bright

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. The character is based on the original meaning "bright".

Components

Meaning component
bái, bai white
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "bright", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
Sound component
sháo, shuò, zhuó spoon
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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-Sagarttek[t-l]ˤewk bright; mark in a target

說文解字

《說文》:“旳,明也。从日,勺聲。《易》曰:‘為的顙。’”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

fēi fly Traditional

Pictograph of a flying bird.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpj+jCə.pə[r] (dialect: *-r > *-j)fly (v.)

說文解字

《說文》:“飛,鳥翥也。象形。”

Sources

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