序
xù HSK4

order, sequence

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approved by Peter Olson · Dec 24, 2021, 06:34 PM · Reviewed by Peter Olson on Dec 24, 2021, 06:34 PM

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Changed fields: gloss, hint, originalMeaning, isVerified, components, customSources

Original meaning: walls at side of palace

Phonosemantic compound. 广 represents the meaning and 予 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "walls at side of palace". The meaning later shifted to "order" and "sequence".

Components

广
广 Meaning component
Change in meaning
广 hints at the original meaning of 序, "walls at side of palace", which is no longer the most common meaning of 序 in modern Mandarin.
予
予 Sound component

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartzjoX[sə.l]aʔ walls at side of palace

說文解字

《說文》：“序，東西牆也。从广，予聲。”

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)