凯瑟琳
Kǎi​sè​lín

Catherine

凯 kǎi victorious Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 岂 represents the meaning and 几 represents the sound. Simplified form of 凱.

Components

岂
岂 SoundMeaning component
qǐ victorious music, happy
几
几 Sound component
jǐ, jī small table
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.430
Readings & variants
Unicode

瑟 sè large stringed musical instrument

Phonosemantic compound. A depiction of movable frets of an stringed instrument represents the meaning and 必 represents the sound.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts the movable frets of a stringed instrument. Modern form looks like unrelated 玨.

必
必 Sound component
bì surely
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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 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 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsrit[s.m]ri[t] lute

說文解字

《說文》：“瑟，庖犧所作弦樂也。从珡，必聲。”

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)

琳 lín beautiful jade

Phonosemantic compound. 王 represents the meaning and 林 represents the sound.

Components

王
王 Meaning component
wáng king
林
林 Sound component
lín forest

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangɡ·rɯm
Unicodelim

說文解字

美玉也。从玉林聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

凱 victorious Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 豈 represents the meaning and 几 represents the sound.

Components

豈
豈 SoundMeaning component
qǐ victorious music, happy
几
几 Sound component
jǐ, jī small table
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhojXC.qʰˤəjʔ pleasant

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.430
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica