骄者必败
jiāo​zhě​bì​bài

pride causes defeat

骄 jiāo spirited, haughty Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 马 represents the meaning and 乔 represents the sound. Simplified from 驕.

Components

马
马 Meaning component
mǎ horse
乔
乔 SoundMeaning component
qiáo, jiǎo tall

Sources

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

者 zhě one who...

Original meaning: paper mulberry

Pictograph of a tree with paper mulberry leaves, now written as 楮. The distinguishing mark 口 was added later. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a tree with paper mulberry leaves. Original form of 楮.

口
口 Distinguishing component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 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 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 Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (14 of 28 verified)

着都书著诸署绪猪赌屠堵睹煮奢暑褚赭渚箸锗楮翥諸豬緒書賭啫

Simplified (1)

书

Iconic (1)

楮

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyaeXtAʔ (nominalizing particle)

說文解字

《說文》：“者，別事詞也。从白，聲。，古文旅字。”

Sources

Character origin
林志強《《文源》評注》p.524-525李学勤《字源》p.290
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

必 bì surely

Original meaning: weapon handle

Pictograph of a weapon handle, now written as 柲. 八 was later added as a decorative mark. Similar to 戈 but without the blade. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
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 Qin 221-206 BC
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

Sound (5 of 10 verified)

秘瑟泌谧宓毖铋祕謐柲

Iconic (1)

柲

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjitpi[t] necessarily

說文解字

《說文》：“必，分極也。从八、弋，弋亦聲。”

Sources

Character origin
林志強《《文源》評注》p.441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)

败 bài be defeated Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 贝 represents the sound. Simplified form of 敗.

Components

贝
贝 Sound component
bèi sea shell
攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

Sources

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

驕 jiāo spirited, haughty Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 馬 represents the meaning and 喬 represents the sound.

Components

馬
馬 Meaning component
mǎ horse
喬
喬 SoundMeaning component
tall

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangkrew
Unicodegyɛu

說文解字

《說文》：“驕，馬高六尺為驕。从馬，喬聲。《詩》曰：‘我馬唯驕。’一曰野馬。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

敗 bài be defeated Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 貝 represents the sound.

Components

貝
貝 Sound component
bèi sea shell
攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbaejHN-pˤra[t]-s suffer defeat
paejHpˤra[t]-s defeat (v.t.)

說文解字

《說文》：“敗，毁也。从攴、貝。敗賊皆从貝，會意。贁，籀文敗，从賏。”

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)