亲兄弟，明算帐
qīn​xiōng​dì, míng​suàn​zhàng

clear accounts

亲 qīn, qin relatives Simplified

Original meaning: chestnut tree

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 辛 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "chestnut". This character was repurposed during character simplification as the simplified form of 親.

Components

辛
辛 Sound component
xīn laborious
木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
Change in meaning
木 hints at the original meaning of 亲, "chestnut tree", which is no longer the most common meaning of 亲 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

榇親

說文解字

《說文》：“𣓀，果實如小栗。从木，辛聲。《春秋傳》曰：‘女摯不過栗。’”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

兄 xiōng, xiong elder brother

Pictograph of a mouth on top of a person, representing an older brother giving orders.

Components

口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth
人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person

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
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

况贶況

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxjwaengm̥raŋ elder brother

說文解字

《說文》：“兄，長也。从儿，从口。”

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)

弟 dì, di younger brother

Original meaning: order

Pictograph of a rope neatly wrapped around a weapon handle. Based on the original meaning "orderly". The meaning later shifted to "next in sequence" (now written as 第) and "younger brother".

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
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 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 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 12 verified)

第递梯涕剃娣悌锑睇绨鹈鵜

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

第悌

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdejXlˤəjʔ younger brother

說文解字

《說文》：“弟，韋束之次弟也。从古字之象。，古文弟，从古文韋省，丿聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.477-478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)

明 míng, ming bright

The character was originally depicted moonlight (月) shining through a window (囧). The 囧 component was later reanalyzed as 日 (sun).

Components

囧
囧 SoundIconic component
jiǒng bright window

The modern form looks similar to 日 (sun).

Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 囧 than it was in ancient scripts.
月
月 Iconic component
yuè, yue moon

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
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

盟萌

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmjaengmraŋ bright

說文解字

《說文》：“朙，照也。从月，从囧。明，古文朙，从日。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.551-552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)

算 suàn, suan count

Depicts a tool (具) made from bamboo (⺮) for performing calculations, such as an abacus.

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

具
具 Meaning component
jù, ju tool

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

篡纂籑篹

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartswanH[s]ˤorʔ-s calculate; tally

說文解字

《說文》：“算，數也，从竹，从具，讀若筭。”

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)

帐 zhàng tent Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 巾 represents the meaning and 长 represents the sound. Simplified form of 帳.

Components

巾
巾 Meaning component
jīn cloth
长
长 Sound component
zhǎng, cháng long

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

親 qīn, qin relatives Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 見 represents the meaning and 亲 represents the sound.

Components

亲
亲 Sound component
qīn, qin relatives
見
見 Meaning component
jiàn, xiàn, jian see

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

襯

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttshin[tsʰ]i[n] close; parents

說文解字

《說文》：“親，至也。从見，亲聲。”

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)

帳 zhàng tent Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 巾 represents the meaning and 長 represents the sound.

Components

巾
巾 Meaning component
jīn cloth
長
長 Sound component
zhǎng, cháng long

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttrjangHtraŋ-scurtain
Zhengzhangtaŋs
Unicodedjiɑ̀ng

說文解字

張也。从巾長聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)