Pictograph of a person standing with crossed legs, conveying the meaning "to cross".
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kaew | [k]ˤraw | cross (v.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“交，交脛也。从大，象交形。”
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)
Original meaning: to bestow, give
Upside-down version of 益, depicting food or drink being poured from a container (皿). Based on the original meaning "to bestow, give", now written as 賜. The meaning later shifted to "exchange", "change", and "easy".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | yeH | lek-s | easy |
| yek | lek | change; exchange |
說文解字
《說文》：“易，蜥易，蝘蜓，守宮也。象形。《秘書》說，日月為易，象陰陽也。一曰从勿。”
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
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)