丑媳妇早晚也得见公婆 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

chǒu second earthly branch; (simp.) ugly Simplified

Depicts of a hand or paw with fingernails or claws. The current meaning is a phonetic loan. In simplified Chinese 丑 is also used to mean "ugly", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 醜.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	trhjuwX	[n̥]ruʔ	2d earthly branch

說文解字

《說文》：“丑，紐也。十二月，萬物動，用事。象手之形。時加丑，亦舉手時也。”

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)

xí daughter-in-law

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 息 represents the sound.

Components

女 Meaning component

nǚ, nü woman

息 Sound component

xi, xī breathe, rest

Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	slɯɡ

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang

fù, fu married women Simplified

Simplified form of 婦. Depicts a woman (女) using a broom (帚). Women were traditionally responsible for household chores in ancient times. 帚 also represents the sound.

Components

女 Iconic component

nǚ, nü woman

彐 Simplified component

jì snout

Shorthand for the 帚 component in the traditional character 婦.

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode

zǎo early

Phonosemantic compound. 日 represents the meaning and 棗 represents the sound. The form of the original phonetic component 棗 was abbreviated to look like 十.

Components

日 Meaning component

rì sun

棗 Sound component

zǎo date tree

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 棗 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1)

草

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsawX	Nə.tsˤuʔ	early

說文解字

《說文》：“早，晨也。从日在甲上。”

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)

wǎn night

Phonosemantic compound. 日 represents the meaning and 免 represents the sound.

Components

日 Meaning component

rì sun

免 Sound component

miǎn (hat), avoid

Change in sound

晚 and 免 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
晚 *m[o][r]ʔ
免 *mr[o][r]ʔ

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	mjonX	m[o][r]ʔ	late

說文解字

《說文》：“晚，莫也。从日，免聲。”

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)

yě also

Original meaning: cry

Depicts a child opening its mouth to cry. Original form of 嗁. The modern meaning is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (5 of 12 verified)

他地她施池驰弛迤沲馳酏㐌

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

拖

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	yaeX	lAjʔ	(final particle)

說文解字

《說文》：“也，女陰也。象形。，秦刻石也字。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.859
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

de, dé, děi obtain

Depicts a hand (寸) grabbing a shell (貝), used as currency in ancient China, to convey the meaning "get". Originally written as 㝵. The 彳 (movement) component was added later.

Components

彳 Meaning component

chì, fú walk

彳 is a component form of 行.

貝 Iconic component

bèi sea shell

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 貝 than it was in ancient scripts.

寸 Iconic component

cùn, cun (hand), inch

Depicts a hand.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

嘚

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tok	tˤək	obtain

說文解字

《說文》：“得，行有所得也。从彳，聲。，古文省彳。”

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)

jiàn, xiàn, jian see Simplified

Simplified form of 見. Pictograph of a person (卩) using their eye (目) to see (見).

Components

目 Iconic Simplified component

mù eye

Depicts an eye.

卩 Iconic component

jié person kneeling

Depicts a person.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 卩 than it was in ancient scripts.

Component uses

Meaning (5 of 17 verified)

现规觉观视览觅觑觐觎觊靓岘觇觋觏觌

Sound (3 of 8 verified)

现舰砚苋笕岘蚬枧

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode

gōng public

Original meaning: earthen jar

Pictograph of a earthen jar for holding liquid, now written as 瓮. The current meaning "public" is a phonetic loan.

Components

八 Iconic component

bā eight

Depicts handles of a jar.

口 Iconic component

kǒu, kou mouth

Depicts the opening of a jar.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 口 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (5 of 14 verified)

容松讼翁颂瓮蚣衮忪袞頌訟鈆彸

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kuwng	C.qˤoŋ	impartial, just; public
	kuwng	C.qˤoŋ	father; prince

說文解字

《說文》：“公，平分也。从八、从厶。八，猶背也。韓非曰：‘背厶為公’。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.86-87
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

pó, po mother-in-law

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 波 represents the sound.

Components

女 Meaning component

nǚ, nü woman

波 Sound component

bō waves

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	ba	[b]ˤa[j]	婆娑 saunter, dance

Sources

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

clown Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 鬼 represents the meaning and 酉 represents the sound.

Components

酉 Sound component

yǒu wine

鬼 Meaning component

guǐ ghost

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsyhuwX	t.qʰuʔ	ugly; evil
	tsyhuwX	t.qʰuʔ	category

說文解字

可惡也。从鬼酉聲。

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)

fù, fu married women Traditional

Depicts a woman (女) using a broom (帚). Women were traditionally responsible for household chores in ancient times. 帚 also represents the sound.

Components

女 Iconic component

nǚ, nü woman

帚 Sound Iconic component

zhou broom

Change in sound

婦 and 帚 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
婦 *mə.bəʔ (or *tsə.-? see Min)
帚 *[t.p]əʔ

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	bjuwX	mə.bəʔ (or *tsə.-? see Min)	woman, wife

說文解字

《說文》：“婦，服也。从女持帚，灑掃也。”

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)

jiàn, xiàn, jian see Traditional

Pictograph of a person (卩) using their eye (目) to see (見).

Components

目 Iconic component

mù eye

Depicts an eye.

卩 Iconic component

jié person kneeling

Depicts a person.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 卩 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Meaning (7 of 16 verified)

視覺觀規親覓覷覽覦靚覘覡覲峴覬現

Sound (2 of 5 verified)

靦莧峴硯現

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kenH	[k]ˤen-s	see (v.)
	henH	N-[k]ˤen-s	appear
	henH	m-[k]ˤen-s	cause to appear, introduce

說文解字

《說文》：“見，視也。从儿，从目。”

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)

丑 chǒu second earthly branch; (simp.) ugly Simplified

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (3 of 9 verified)

Iconic (1)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

媳 xí daughter-in-law

Components

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

妇 fù, fu married women Simplified

Components

Sources

早 zǎo early

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

晚 wǎn night

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

也 yě also

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (5 of 12 verified)

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

得 de, dé, děi obtain

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

见 jiàn, xiàn, jian see Simplified

Components

Component uses

Meaning (5 of 17 verified)

Sound (3 of 8 verified)

Sources

公 gōng public

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (5 of 14 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

婆 pó, po mother-in-law

Components

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

醜 clown Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

婦 fù, fu married women Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

見 jiàn, xiàn, jian see Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

chǒu second earthly branch; (simp.) ugly Simplified

xí daughter-in-law

fù, fu married women Simplified

zǎo early

wǎn night

yě also

de, dé, děi obtain

jiàn, xiàn, jian see Simplified

gōng public

pó, po mother-in-law

clown Traditional

fù, fu married women Traditional

jiàn, xiàn, jian see Traditional