高光时刻 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

gāoguāngshíkè

highlight

gāo high

Pictograph of a tall building.

Components

京 Iconic component

jīng capital city

Pictograph of a tall building.

口 Distinguishing component

kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (6 of 18 verified)

毫搞乔豪稿敲膏镐蒿槁篙犒缟縞暠喬鎬槀

Meaning (3 of 4 verified)

Remnant (2)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kaw	Cə.[k]ˤaw	high, tall

說文解字

《說文》：“高，崇也，象臺觀高之形。从冂、口，與倉舍同意。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.448
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

guāng light

Pictograph of fire on top of a person.

Components

火 Iconic component

huǒ fire

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 火 than it was in ancient scripts.

卩 Iconic component

jié person kneeling

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

Seal form — Seal Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 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

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

晃恍胱觥咣桄

Meaning (1 of 3 verified)

Iconic (2)

Remnant (2)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kwang	kʷˤaŋ	light, brightness

說文解字

《說文》：“光，明也。从火在人上，光明意也。，古文。炗，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)

shí time Simplified

Simplified form of 時.

Components

日 Meaning component

rì sun

寸 Simplified component

cùn, cun (hand), inch

Shorthand for the 寺 component in the traditional character 時.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

Sources

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

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Qin 221-206 BC

Regular Modern

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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)

shí time Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 日 represents the meaning and 寺 represents the sound.

Components

日 Meaning component

rì sun

寺 Sound component

sì, shì temple

Character Evolution

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 Shuowen ~100 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Qin 221-206 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dzyi	[d]ə (~ *[d]əʔ)	time

說文解字

《說文》：“時，四時也。从日，寺聲。旹，古文時，从之、日。”

Sources

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