龟笑鳖无尾 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

guī turtle or tortoise Simplified

Simplified form of 龜. Pictograph of a tortoise.

Sources

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

xiào smile

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 夭 represents the sound.

Components

⺮ Unknown component

zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹. The original connection of this component to "laugh" is unclear.

夭 Sound component

yāo, wò, wāi die young

Character Evolution

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	sjewH	[s-l]aw-s	to laugh

說文解字

《說文新附》：“此字本闕。臣鉉等案：孫愐《唐韻》引《說文》云‘喜也，从竹，从犬’，而不述其義。今俗皆从犬。又案：李陽冰刊定《說文》‘从竹，从夭’，義云‘竹得風其體夭屈如人之笑’。未知其審。”

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)

biē turtle Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鱼 represents the meaning and 敝 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鱉.

Components

鱼 Meaning component

yú fish

敝 Sound component

bì worn out

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

wú negative Simplified

Original meaning: dance

Pictograph of a person dancing, with ox tails or bird feathers hanging from his arms, to pray for rain. Original form of 舞 (dance). The current form is a phonetic loan. The simplified character 无 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 無.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

抚芜妩庑呒怃

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	mju	ma	not have

說文解字

《說文》：“，亡也，从亡無聲；无，奇字无，通於元者，王育說：‘天屈西北為无。’”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.495
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

wěi tail

Depicts fur (毛) protruding from the posterior of a person (尸) wearing a decorative tail.

Components

尸 Iconic component

shī sitting person

Depicts a person sitting or squatting.

毛 Iconic component

máo, mao hair

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	mj+jX	[m]əjʔ	tail

說文解字

《說文》：“尾，微也。从到毛在尸後。古人或飾系尾，西南夷亦然。”

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)

guī turtle or tortoise Traditional

Pictograph of a tortoise.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1)

鬮

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kjuw	[k]ʷə	tortoise
	kwij	[k]ʷrə	tortoise

說文解字

《說文》：“龜，舊也，外骨內肉者也。从它，龜頭與它頭同，天地之性，廣肩無雄。龜鼈之類，以它為雄。象足、甲、尾之形。，古文龜。”

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)

turtle Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 魚 represents the meaning and 敝 represents the sound.

Components

魚 Meaning component

yú fish

敝 Sound component

bì worn out

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	pjiet	pet	soft-shelled turtle (Trionychidae?)
Zhengzhang		ped

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart Zhengzhang Shangfang

wú negative Traditional

Original meaning: dance

Pictograph of a person dancing, with ox tails or bird feathers hanging from his arms, to pray for rain. Original form of 舞 (dance). The current meaning is a phonetic loan.