bù​zú​chǐ​shù

insignificant

bù, bu no

Original meaning: sepals

Pictograph of sepals of a flower. The modern meaning "no" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 5 verified)

Simplified (4)

Meaning (1 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjuwnot
pjuw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

foot

Pictograph of a foot () attached to a leg.

Components

Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a leg.

Iconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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

Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsjuH[ts]ok-s replenish
tsjowk[ts]ok sufficient
tsjowk[ts]ok foot

說文解字

《說文》:“足,人之足也,在下。从止、囗。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.143漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

齿 chǐ teeth Simplified

Simplified form of . Pictograph of a mouth full of teeth. The sound component was added later.

Components

Sound component
zhǐ (foot), stop
𠚕
chǐ teeth

Depicts a mouth full of teeth.

Component uses

Meaning (3 of 12 verified)

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.139
Readings & variants
Unicode

shù, shǔ, shu number Simplified

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
tap

is a component form of .

Sound component
lóu, lǚ, lǘ surname
Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

chǐ teeth Traditional

Pictograph of a mouth full of teeth. The sound component was added later.

Components

Sound component
zhǐ (foot), stop
𠚕
𠚕 Iconic component
chǐ teeth

Depicts a mouth full of teeth.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Qin 221-206 BC
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyhiXt-[k]ʰə(ŋ)ʔ (or *t.ŋ̊əʔ)front teeth

說文解字

《說文》:“齒,口齗骨也。象口齒之形。止聲。,古文齒字。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.139
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

shù, shǔ, shu number Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
tap

is a component form of .

Sound component
surname
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsrjuXs-roʔ count (v.)
srjuHs-roʔ-s number (n.)
sraewks-rok frequently

說文解字

《說文》:“數,計也。从攴,婁聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica