冈比亚
Gāng​bǐ​yà

Gambia

冈 gāng ridge or crest of hill Simplified

Simplified form of 岡. Phonosemantic compound. 山 represents the meaning and 网 represents the sound. The traditional component 山 was removed for simplification.

Components

岡
山 Deleted component
shān mountain

The traditional component 山 was removed for simplification.

网
网 SoundSimplified component
wǎng net

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

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

刚钢岗纲

說文解字

《說文》：“网，庖犧所結繩以漁。从冂，下象网交文。，网或从亡；，网或从糸；，古文网；，籀文网。”

Sources

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

比 bǐ to compare

Two spoons side-by-side, conveying the meaning "to put together", "match", or "compare". 匕 also represents the sound.

Components

匕
匕 SoundIconic component
bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Depicts a spoon.

匕
匕 SoundIconic component
bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Depicts a spoon.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 21 verified)

批毕屁毙庇毗琵砒蓖吡纰枇蚍妣秕貔舭芘仳坒紕

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

毖坒

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjijXC.pijʔ compare
pjijHpij-s combine; all

說文解字

《說文》：“比，密也。二人為从，反从為比。夶，古文比。”

Sources

Character origin
尤梓竹《甲骨文字考釋提要（一）》p.56李学勤《字源》p.725
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

亚 yà Asia, sub- Simplified

Original meaning: tomb

Simplified form of 亞. Depicts a wooden structure where coffins are placed. Based on the original meaning "tomb". The current meaning "Asia" is a phonetic loan.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

恶哑娅垩桠氩垭痖

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

晋

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

岡 gāng ridge or crest of hill Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 山 represents the meaning and 网 represents the sound.

Components

山
山 Meaning component
shān mountain
网
网 Sound component
wǎng net
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 网 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

綱鋼剛崗

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangklaːŋ
Unicodegɑng

說文解字

《說文》：“岡，山骨也。从山，网聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

亞 yà Asia, sub- Traditional

Original meaning: tomb

Depicts a wooden structure where coffins are placed. Based on the original meaning "tomb". The current meaning "Asia" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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
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 (1 of 5 verified)

埡啞堊婭惡

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'aeHʔˤrak-s secondary

說文解字

《說文》：“亞，醜也。象人局背之形。賈侍中說以為次弟也。”

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)