努瓜娄发
Nǔ​guā​lóu​fā

Nuku'alofa

努 nǔ to exert

Phonosemantic compound. 力 represents the meaning and 奴 represents the sound.

Components

奴
奴 Sound component
nú slave
力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangnaːʔ
Unicodenǒ

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

瓜 guā melon

Depicts a melon hanging from a vine.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 6 verified)

孤狐弧呱胍觚

Meaning (1 of 6 verified)

瓣瓢瓤瓠瓞㼌

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwaekʷˤra melon, gourd

說文解字

《說文》：“瓜，也。象形。”

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)

娄 lóu, lǚ, lǘ surname Simplified

Simplified form of 婁. Depicts two hands holding a woman's (女) waist. Based on the original meaning "hug", now written as 摟. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

米
米 Simplified component
mǐ rice

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character 婁 depicting two hands holding a waist.

女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman

Component uses

Sound (4 of 18 verified)

数楼屡搂缕喽髅篓褛镂偻瘘蝼嵝窭蒌屦耧

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

发 fā, fa, fà issue Simplified

Simplified form of both 發 (send out) and 髮 (hair). Visually similar to 犮, the bottom component of 髮.

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

废泼酦袯

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

拨

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

婁 surname Traditional

Original meaning: hug

Depicts two hands holding a woman's (女) waist. Based on the original meaning "hug", now written as 摟. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts two hands holding a waist.

女
女 Iconic component
nǚ, nü woman

Depicts a woman.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 12 verified)

縷瞜褸髏僂屨螻樓摟屢數嘍

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlju[r]o drag, trail (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“婁，空也。从母中女，空之意也。一曰婁務也。，古文。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.853-854
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

發 fā, fa, fà send out Traditional

Depicts a hand pulling back an arrow (殳) in a bow (弓). 癶 represents the sound.

Components

癶
癶 Sound component
bō legs
Change in sound
弓
弓 Iconic component
gōng bow

Depicts a bow.

殳
殳 Iconic component
shū weapon or tool

Depicts a hand pulling an arrow.

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
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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
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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

醱廢潑

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

撥

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjotCə.pat fly forth, send forth

說文解字

《說文》：“發，發也。从弓，癹聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.880-881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)