黄梅戏
Huáng​méi​xì

Huangmei opera

黄 huáng yellow Simplified

Original meaning: physically disabled

Simplified form of 黃. Pictograph of a person with a large belly, representing someone deformed. The 口 component was added to imply sighing. Based on the original meaning "physically disabled", now written as 尪. Later meaning shifted to "yellow; sallow", a skin color associated with illness.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 7 verified)

横簧磺璜潢蟥癀

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

磺

Historical Pronunciations

Middle Chinese
Unicodehuɑng

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.918
Readings & variants
Unicode

梅 méi plums

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 每 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
每
每 Sound component
měi every

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD
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 ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmwojC.mˤə plum tree

說文解字

《說文》：“梅，枏也，可食。从木，每聲。楳，或从某。”

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)

戏 xì play Simplified

Original meaning: military troops outside the main group

Simplified form of 戲. Phonosemantic compound. 戈 represents the meaning and 䖒 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "military troops outside the main group". The meaning later shifted to "sport" and "play".

Components

又
又 Simplified component
yòu again

Shorthand for the 䖒 component in the traditional character 戲.

戈
戈 Meaning component
gē spear
Change in meaning
戈 hints at the original meaning of 戏, "military troops outside the main group", which is no longer the most common meaning of 戏 in modern Mandarin.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

黃 huáng yellow Traditional

Original meaning: physically disabled

Pictograph of a person with a large belly, representing someone deformed. The 口 component was added to imply sighing. Based on the original meaning "physically disabled", now written as 尪. Later meaning shifted to "yellow; sallow", a skin color associated with illness.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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 Xin 9-23 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
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

廣橫

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthwangN-kʷˤaŋ yellow

說文解字

《說文》：“黃，地之色也。从田，从炗，炗亦聲。炗，古文光。，古文黃。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.918
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

戲 xì play Traditional

Original meaning: military troops outside the main group

Phonosemantic compound. 戈 represents the meaning and 䖒 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "military troops outside the main group". The meaning later shifted to "sport" and "play".

Components

䖒
䖒 Sound component
xī earthenware with the shape of a bean
戈
戈 Meaning component
gē spear
Change in meaning
戈 hints at the original meaning of 戲, "military troops outside the main group", which is no longer the most common meaning of 戲 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartxjeHŋ̊(r)ar-s sport, joke

說文解字

《說文》：“戲，三軍之偏也。一曰兵也。从戈，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)