zuò​fēng​zhèng​pài

upright

zuò make

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
rén person

is a component form of .

Sound component
zhà, zuò suddenly
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsak[ts]ˤak do, work
tsuH[ts]ˤak-s do, work

說文解字

《說文》:“作,起也。从人,从乍。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

fēng wind Simplified

Simplified form of . Originally written the same as (phoenix) because the two characters sounded the same. Later the bottom part of the character was abbreviated to distinguish the two characters.

Components

Sound component
fán all
Simplified component
five

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 10 verified)

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

zhèng, zheng, zhēng correct

Original meaning: to attack (an enemy)

Depicts a foot () going out towards city walls (). also represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "to attack (an enemy)", now written as . The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "correct".

Components

SoundIconic component
dīng cubes

Depicts city walls.

Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Iconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 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
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 (9 of 12 verified)

Iconic (1)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyengC.teŋ 1st (month)
tsyengHteŋ-s correct (adj., v.)

說文解字

《說文》:“正,是也。从止,一以止。,古文正,从二,二,古上字。,古文正,从一、足,足者,亦止也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.120
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

pài school of thought, faction

Depicts the water () in a river flowing into different branches (𠂢). The meaning later expanded to "faction", "school of thought", and "style".

Components

Iconic component
shui, shuǐ water

is a component form of .

𠂢
𠂢 SoundIconic component
pài river branching

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangm̥ʰreːɡs
Unicodepɛ̀i

說文解字

《說文》:“派,別水也。从水,从,亦聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

fēng wind Traditional

Originally written the same as (phoenix) because the two characters sounded the same. Later the bottom part of the character was abbreviated to distinguish the two characters.

Components

Sound component
fán all
Remnant component
fèng male phoenix

Abbreviated remnant of , originally a pictograph of a mythical bird. Later reanalyzed as .

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (2 of 10 verified)

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjuwngprəm wind (n.)
pjuwngHprəm-s blow; criticize

說文解字

《說文》:“風,八風也。東方曰明庶風;東南曰清明風;南方曰景風;西南曰涼風;西方曰閶闔風;西北曰不周風;北方曰廣莫風;東北曰融風。風動蟲生,故蟲八日而化。从虫,凡聲。凬,古文風。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica