legendary auspicious animal

Phonosemantic compound. 鹿 represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

鹿
鹿 Meaning component
deer
Sound component
its, his, (3p possessive)

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangɡɯ
Unicodeghiə

說文解字

仁獸也。麋身牛尾,一角。从鹿其聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

lín female of Chinese unicorn

Components

鹿
鹿 Meaning component
deer

deer

Sound component
lín will-o'-the wisp, phosphorus

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangrin
Unicodelin

說文解字

大牝鹿也。从鹿粦聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

殿 diàn hall

Original meaning: to smack the buttocks

Depicts a weapon () smacking a person's buttocks (𡱒). In ancient China, having one's buttocks smacked with a huge stick was one of the punishments criminals could have. Based on the original meaning, "to smack the buttocks". The meaning later shifted to "palace" and "hall", because buildings have an elevated appearance that stick out like buttocks.

Components

𡱒
𡱒 SoundIconic component
tún buttocks

Depicts a person () with their buttocks (𠂤) emphasized. 𡱒 also represents the sound.

Change in sound
Iconic component
shū weapon or tool

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdenH[N-t]ˤə[n]-s palace
tenHtˤə[n]-s rear (building, army unit)
tenHtˤə[n]-s palace, hall

說文解字

《說文》:“殿,擊聲也。从殳,聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新說》p.227-228ChinaKnowledge.deWiktionary
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica