华盛顿特区
Huá​shèng​dùn​tè​qū

Washington D.C.

华 huá magnificent Simplified

Simplified form of 華. 化 is used here to represent the sound. The bottom component is a remnant from the traditional character 華.

Components

化
化 Sound component
huà change
華
華 SimplifiedRemnant component
huá magnificent

Remnant from the bottom of the traditional character 華.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

哗桦烨骅铧

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

晔烨

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.554-555
Readings & variants
Unicode

盛 shèng, chéng abundant

Phonosemantic compound. 皿 represents the meaning and 成 represents the sound.

Components

皿
皿 Meaning component
mǐn, mǐng dish

Depicts a full container.

成
成 Sound component
chéng, cheng completed

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
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 Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzyeng[d]eŋ put in (a receptacle)
dzyengH[d]eŋ-s full, abundant

說文解字

《說文》：“盛，黍稷在器中以祀者也。从皿，成聲。”

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)

顿 dùn to bow, pause Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 页 represents the meaning and 屯 represents the sound. Simplified form of 頓.

Components

屯
屯 Sound component
tún, zhūn village
页
页 Meaning component
yè page

Depicts bowing the head.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

特 tè special

Original meaning: bull

Phonosemantic compound. 牛 represents the meaning and 寺 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bull". The meaning later shifted to "prominent" and "special".

Components

牛
牛 Meaning component
niú cow
寺
寺 Sound component
sì, shì temple
Change in sound

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdok[d]ˤək bull

說文解字

《說文》：“特，朴特，牛父也。从牛，寺聲。”

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)

区 qū area Simplified

Simplified form of 區. Depicts a group of things (品) in an enclosed area.

Components

匚
匚 Iconic component
fāng, fàng box

Depicts an enclosed area.

品
品 IconicSimplified component
pǐn product

Depicts a group of things.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 14 verified)

欧驱躯枢呕殴鸥岖抠讴沤瓯怄眍

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

妪奁伛

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

華 huá magnificent Traditional

Original meaning: flower

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 𠌶 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "flower", now written as 花. The meaning later shifted to "blossoming", "flourishing" and "magnificent".

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

𠌶
𠌶 SoundMeaning component
huā flower

Pictograph of a fully bloomed flower.

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

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

驊樺嘩

Simplified (1)

华

Remnant (1)

华

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

曄

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxwaeqʷʰˤra flower (n.)
hwaeN-qʷʰˤra flower (v.); flowery (adj.)
hwaeH[ɢ]ʷˤra-s [name of a mountain]

說文解字

榮也。从艸从𠌶。凡華之屬皆从華。

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.554-555
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

頓 dùn to bow, pause Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 頁 represents the meaning and 屯 represents the sound.

Components

屯
屯 Sound component
tún, zhūn village
頁
頁 Meaning component
yè (head), page

Depicts bowing the head.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

噸

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangtuːns
Unicodeduə̀n

說文解字

《說文》：“頓，下首也。从頁，屯聲。”

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)

區 qū area Traditional

Depicts a group of things (品) in an enclosed area.

Components

匚
匚 Iconic component
fāng, fàng box

Depicts an enclosed area.

品
品 Iconic component
pǐn product

Depicts a group of things.


Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (1 of 15 verified)

驅軀嘔慪甌嶇歐鷗毆熰樞漚謳摳瞘

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

嫗奩

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'uwqˤ(r)o (a measure)

說文解字

《說文》：“區，踦區，藏匿也。从品在匸中。品，眾也。”

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)