Originally a small line or dot below a longer line, indicating "down". The vertical line was added to distinguish the character from 二 (two). Opposite of 上.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | haeX | gˤraʔ | down |
| haeH | m-gˤraʔ-s | descend |
說文解字
《說文》：“丅，底也。指事。下，篆文丅。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.47
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: wren
Originally a pictograph of a wren. Based on the original meaning "wren", now written as 鷦. Later used as a phonetic loan for "burn", after which the fire (灬) component was added.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tsjew | S.tew | burn, scorch |
| tsjew | S.tew | Jiao (place name) |
說文解字
《說文》：“，火所傷也。从火，雥聲。，或省。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.757-758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)