Pictograph of the side view of a standing person.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nyin | ni[ŋ] | (other) person |
說文解字
《說文》：“人，天地之性最貴者也。此籀文，象臂脛之形。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.630
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: doorway, threshold
Depicts a wooden (木) door frame (囗). Based on the original meaning "doorway, threshold". The meaning later expanded to "obstruct" and "trap".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | khwonH | kʰˤu[n]-s | obstruct; distress |
說文解字
《說文》：“困，故廬也。从木在囗中。，古文困。”
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: crooked
Derived from 正, but with the line on top slanted to indicate "crooked (i.e. not straight)". The meaning later shifted to "lack".
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | bjop | [b](r)[o]p | lack (v.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“乏，《春秋傳》曰：‘反正為乏。’”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.121
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Pictograph of a horse.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | maeX | mˤraʔ | horse |
說文解字
《說文》：“馬，怒也；武也。象馬頭髦尾四足之形。，古文。，籀文馬與同，有髦。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.741-742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)