Original meaning: pure jade
Depicts jade (玉) that is entirely pure and flawless. Based on the original meaning "pure jade". The meaning later shifted to "complete" and "entire".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dzjwen | [dz]o[n] | complete (adj.) |
說文解字
《說文》:“,完也。从入,从工。全,篆文从玉。純玉曰全。,古文仝。”
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: slave
Pictograph of an eye (目) being poked with something sharp. In ancient China, slaves were sometimes punished by blinding them with a sharp object. Based on the original meaning "slave". The meaning later shifted to "common person".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | mjin | mi[ŋ] | people |
說文解字
《說文》:“民,眾萌也。从古文之象。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.855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: deity
Pictograph of a memorial tablet used for spiritual rituals, similar to 示.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tsyuX | toʔ | master; host |
說文解字
《說文》:“主,鐙中火主也。从凵土,象形;从丶,丶亦聲。”
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)
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | mjæng | mraŋ | covenant |
| Zhengzhang | mraŋ | ||
| mraːŋs |
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kwok | [C.q]ʷˤək | state (n.) |
說文解字
《說文》:“國,邦也。从囗,从或。”
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
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
說文解字
《說文》:“聯,連也。从耳,耳連於頰也;从絲,絲連不絕也。”
Sources
- Character origin
- Zhengzhang Shangfang漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)