北安普敦
Běi'ān​pǔ​dūn

Northampton

北 běi north

Original meaning: back

Pictograph of two people standing back-to-back. Based on the original meaning "back", now written as 背. The current meaning "north" is a phonetic loan.

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
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 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 (1 of 2 verified)

背邶

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

背冀

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpokpˤək north

說文解字

《說文》：“北，也。从二人相背。”

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)

安 ān peaceful

Depicts a woman (女) sitting under a roof (宀). Older forms of this character depict a person kneeling with a mark on their thigh and shin to indicate sitting.

Components

宀
宀 Iconic component
mián roof
女
女 Iconic component
nǚ, nü woman

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 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 Qin 221-206 BC
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 9 verified)

案按氨鞍胺晏铵桉銨

Meaning (1)

晏

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'an[ʔ]ˤa[n] peace(ful)
'an[ʔ]ˤa[n] how
'an[ʔ]ˤa[n] 安息 Ānxī (Iranian country in the western regions, W. Hàn; from Aršaka = Arsaces, founder of the Arsacid dynasty)

說文解字

《說文》：“安，靜也。从女在宀下。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫徐超《古漢字通解500例》p.1-2
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

普 pǔ universal

Phonosemantic compound. 日 represents the meaning and 並 represents the sound.

Components

並
並 Sound component
side by side
Change in sound
日
日 Meaning component
rì sun

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

谱氆镨譜潽

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpʰaːʔ

說文解字

《說文》：“暜，日無色也。从日，从竝。”

Sources

Character origin
zdic
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

敦 dūn esteem

Phonosemantic compound. 享 represents the meaning and 攵 represents the sound. Simplified form of 㪟.

Components

享
享 Meaning component
xiǎng enjoy
攵
攵 Sound component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

Character Evolution

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 Warring States 475-221 BC
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

墩暾礅憝镦燉

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttwojtˤur (dialect: *-r > *-j)manage, direct
twontˤursolid, thick; 敦煌 ~ 燉煌 Dūnhuáng
Zhengzhangtuːl
doːn
tuːn
tuːns
Unicodeduəi

說文解字

怒也。詆也。一曰誰何也。从攴𦎫聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)