Original meaning: sepals
Pictograph of sepals of a flower. The modern meaning "no" is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pjuw | pə | not |
| pjuw | pə | 不律 writing brush (pron. in Wú 吳 ap. Shuōwén; E. Hàn) |
說文解字
《說文》：“不，鳥飛上翔不下來也。从一，一猶天也。象形。”
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. ⺮ represents the meaning and 寺 represents the sound.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tongX | tˤəŋʔ | step, grade |
說文解字
《說文》：“等，齊簡也。从竹，从寺。寺，官曹之等平也。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫Wiktionary
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Simplified
Three horizontal strokes, representing the number three.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | sam | s.rum (*s.r- > s-; infl. by 四 *s-?) | three |
| samH | s.r[u]m-s (*s.r- > *s-, infl. by 四 *s-?) | three times |
說文解字
《說文》：“三，天地人之道也。从三數。弎，古文三从弋。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.51
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Pictograph of a horn.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kaewk | C.[k]ˤrok | horn, corner |
說文解字
《說文》：“角，獸角也。象形，角與刀魚相似。”
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)
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | heng | [ɢ]ˤeŋ | form, shape |
說文解字
《說文》：“形，象形也。从彡，幵聲。”
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)
Traditional
Phonosemantic compound with two sound components and two meaning components. 辶 and 方 represent the meaning, while 自 and 丙 represent the sound.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pen | pˤe[n] | side |
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica