Original meaning: break apart
歹 depicts a wooden post with a cracked bottom and 刂 depicts a knife. Both used to convey the original meaning "break apart". 歹 also represents the sound. The meaning later shifted to "arrange in order" and "list".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ljet | [r][e]t | tear apart; rank |
說文解字
《說文》：“列，分解也。从刀，聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.355
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Simplified
Components
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Old Chinese | |
|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | pred |
| bred |
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Zhengzhang Shangfang
Pictograph of a man. The top horizontal stroke either distinguishes it from the character 大 or depicts a hairpin, something that was only worn by adults.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pju | p(r)a | man |
| bju | [b]a | this, that | |
| bju | ba | final particle |
說文解字
《說文》：“夫，丈夫也。从大，一以象簪也。周制以八寸為尺，十尺為丈，人長八尺，故曰丈夫。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫林志強《《文源》評注》p.2
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | bjet | N-pret | be separated (intr.) |
| pjet | pret | separate (tr.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“，分解也。从冎，从刀。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.336
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Original meaning: to be elevated
Originally written as 桀, which depicts two feet (舛) on top of a tree (木). 亻 (person) was later added to the character as a meaning component. Based on the original meaning, "to be elevated". The meaning later shifted to "outstanding person" and "hero".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | gjet | N-[k]<r>at | remarkable; hero |
說文解字
《說文》：“傑，傲也。从人，桀聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.2404
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)