Depicts a flagpole. There is a circle in the middle marking the center of the flagpole. In older forms of the character, the flagpole has streamers at the top and bottom used to show the direction of the wind.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | trjuwng | truŋ | center |
| trjuwngH | truŋ-s | hit the center |
說文解字
《說文》：“中，內也。从口、丨，上下通。，古文中。，籀文中。”
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)
Pictograph of two hands holding up a vessel.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | gjowngH | N-k(r)oŋʔ-s | together, all |
說文解字
《說文》：“共，同也。从廿、廾。，古文共。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫裘錫圭 "Chinese Writing" p.189
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Pictograph of a person (大) with a cangue (torture device for punishing criminals) around his neck. People wearing such devices were not able to reach their mouth with their own hands, and were forced to beg for food.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'jang | ʔaŋ | end (v.) |
| 'jang | ʔaŋ | center (n.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“央，中央也。从大在冂之內。大，人也。央、旁同意。一曰久也。”
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)
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | lwit | [r]ut | law, rule (n.) |
| lwit | [r]ut | 不律 writing brush (pron. in Wú 吳 ap. Shuōwén; E. Hàn) |
說文解字
《說文》：“律，均布也。从彳，聿聲。”
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)
Simplified
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'jwe | q(r)oj | 委蛇 compliant, complaisant |
| 'jweX | q(r)ojʔ | entrust to | |
| 'jweX | q(r)ojʔ | collect; store | |
| 'jweX | q(r)orʔ | bend; hang down |
說文解字
《說文》：“委，委隨也。从女，从禾。”
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)
Simplified
Simplified
Components
合 MeaningSimplified component
𡆧 SoundSimplified component
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kiX | k(r)əʔ | leading thread |
說文解字
《說文》：“紀，絲別也。从糸，己聲。”
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
Original meaning: label on a book
Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 僉 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "label on a book". The meaning later shifted to "arrange" and "examine".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kjemX | [k]r[a]mʔ | measure (n.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“檢，書署也。从木，僉聲。”
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
Original meaning: round
Depicts the round opening (口) of a cooking pot (鼎). Based on the original meaning "round", now written as 圓. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | hjwen | ɢʷ<r>en | circle; round |
| hjun | [ɢ]ʷə[n] | (a particle) |
說文解字
《說文》：“員，物數也。从貝，口聲。鼎，籀文从鼎。”
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
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | hwajH | m-kˤop-s | meeting; have a meeting |
| hwajH | ɦʷˤajs (< *m-kˤop-s) | 阿會亘 ēhuìxuān: Skt. ābhāsvara ‘shining’ (E. Hàn) | |
| kwajH | kˤop-s | calculate; calculation |
說文解字
《說文》：“會，合也。从亼，从曾省。曾，益也。令，古文會如此。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.442
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)