Simplified
Original meaning: to look down
Simplified form of 臨. Depicts a person (人) looking (臣) down at a pile of objects (品). 品 also represents the sound. Based on the original meaning, "to look down". The meaning has shifted over time and now means "draw near".
Components
Depicts an eye.
Change in form
Here used to depict a pile of objects.
Pictograph of a person, represented by their head (頁) and feet (夂), being heated underneath the sun (日). The sun component was later omitted for brevity during the Warring States period.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | haeX | [ɢ]ˤraʔ | great |
| haeH | [g]ˤraʔ (~ *[g]ˤraʔ-s) | summer |
說文解字
《說文》：“夏，中國之人也。从夊、从頁、从。，兩手；夊，兩足也。，古文（夏）。”
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: to look down
Depicts a person (人) looking (臣) down at a pile of objects (品). 品 also represents the sound. Based on the original meaning, "to look down". The meaning has shifted over time and now means "draw near".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | lim | (p.)rum | look down at |
說文解字
《說文》：“臨，監臨也。从臥，品聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.728-729
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)