Simplified
Originally 台 and 㠯 were pronounced the same and thus written the same. Later 口 was added to distinguish the characters.
Components
口 Distinguishing component
Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 㠯 than it was in ancient scripts.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | yi | lə | I, me |
說文解字
《說文》：“台，說也。从口，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)
Simplified
Traditional
Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 凡 represents the sound. Originally a pictograph of a mythical Chinese bird, similar to a phoenix. Later the phonetic component 凡 was added.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Remnant (1)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | |
|---|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | bums | |
| Unicode | bhiùng |
說文解字
《說文》：“鳳，神鳥也。天老曰：鳳之象也，鴻前麐後，蛇頸魚尾，鸛顙鴛思，龍文虎背，燕頷雞喙，五色備舉。出於東方君子之國，翺翔四海之外，過崐崘，飲砥柱，濯羽弱水，莫宿風穴，見則天下大安寧。从鳥，凡聲。，古文鳳，象形。鳳飛羣鳥從以萬數，故以為朋黨字。，亦古文鳳。”
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)
Traditional
Original meaning: suspend, hang
Pictograph of a severed head (首) hanging on a rope (系) from a tree (木). Based on the original meaning "hang" or "suspend", now written as 懸. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | hwenH | Cə.[g]ʷˤe[n]-s | district |
| hwen | [g]ʷˤe[n] | suspend |
說文解字
《說文》：“縣，繫也。从系持。”
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)