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.
Components
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | xwae | qʷʰˤra | flower (n.) |
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tshojH | s.r̥ˤəʔ-s | vegetables |
說文解字
艸之可食者。从艸采聲。
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)
Phonosemantic compound. ⻏ represents the meaning and 者 represents the sound. Based on the meaning "large city, capital", which is the meaning when pronounced "dū". When pronounced "dōu", it has the unrelated meaning "all", etymologically related to 多 (many).
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Sound (0 of 1 verified)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tu | tˤa | capital city |
說文解字
有先君之舊宗廟曰都。从邑者聲。周禮：距國五百里爲都。
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)
Simplified
Original meaning: armless child
Pictograph of a young child, similar to 子, but without arms. Compare to 孑 (child only with right arm) and 孓 (child only with left arm). The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | |
|---|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | reːwʔ | |
| Unicode | leǔ | |
| leǔ |
說文解字
《說文》：“了，尦也。从子無臂，象形。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.972
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Zhengzhang Shangfang
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
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
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | hwang | N-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)
Traditional
Original meaning: light alcohol, dilute wine
Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 京 represents the sound.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ljang | C.raŋ | cold |
說文解字
《說文》：“涼，薄也。从水，京聲。”
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)