dōng​yīn​gōng

tom yum goong

dōng winter

Original meaning: tip, extremity

Depicts a rope with knots at both ends. Originally written as 𠂂. Based on the original meaning "tip, extremity", now written as . The meaning later shifted to "winter" (the final season of the year), in which the (ice) component was then added to reinforce the meaning.

Components

𠂂
𠂂 SoundIconic component
zhōng tip, extremity

Depicts a rope with knots at both ends. Modern form looks like unrelated .

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 𠂂 than it was in ancient scripts.
Meaning component
bīng ice

is a component form of .

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 9 verified)

Iconic (2)

Simplified (1)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttowngtˤuŋ winter

說文解字

《說文》:“冬,四時盡也。从仌,从夂。夂,古文終字。,古文冬从日。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫徐中舒《甲骨文字典》p.1239中華語文知識庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

yìn shade Simplified

Shade  provided by a tree also provides the pronunciation

Components

Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass
SoundMeaning component
yīn dark

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

gōng achievement

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
gōng work
Meaning component
lì, li power

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 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 Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkuwngkˤoŋ work, effort

說文解字

《說文》:“功,以勞定國也。从力,从工,工亦聲。”

Sources

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

shade Traditional

Shade  provided by a tree also provides the pronunciation

Components

Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass
SoundMeaning component
yīn dark

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'imHmə-q<r>[u]m-s shade

說文解字

《說文》:“蔭,艸陰地。从艸,陰聲。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica