博鳌亚洲论坛
Bó'áo Yà​zhōu Lùn​tán

Boao Forum

博 bó plentiful, gamble

Original meaning: fight

Phonosemantic compound. 盾 represents the meaning and 尃 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "fight", which later shifted to "win", "plentiful", and "gamble".

Components

盾
盾 Meaning component
dùn shield

Depicts a shield. Modern form looks like 十.

Change in meaning
盾 hints at the original meaning of 博, "fight", which is no longer the most common meaning of 博 in modern Mandarin.
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 盾 than it was in ancient scripts.
尃
尃 Sound component
fū, bù, fǔ state, announce
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpakpˤak broad

說文解字

《說文》：“博，大，通也。从十，从尃。尃，布也。”

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)

鳌 áo huge sea turtle Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鱼 represents the meaning and 敖 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鰲.

Components

鱼
鱼 Meaning component
yú fish
敖
敖 Sound component
áo, aó, ào ramble, stroll, roam

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

亚 yà Asia, sub- Simplified

Original meaning: tomb

Simplified form of 亞. Depicts a wooden structure where coffins are placed. Based on the original meaning "tomb". The current meaning "Asia" is a phonetic loan.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

恶哑娅垩桠氩垭痖

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

晋

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

洲 zhōu continent

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 州 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

州
州 SoundMeaning component
zhōu state, province, islet

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyuwtu islet

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart

论 lùn debate Simplified

Simplified form of 論. Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 侖 represents the sound.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

仑
仑 Sound component
lún, lùn logical reasons

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

坛 tán altar Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 云 represents the sound. Simplified form of 壇.

Components

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth
云
云 Sound component
yún clouds

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

鰲 huge sea turtle Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 魚 represents the meaning and 敖 represents the sound.

Components

魚
魚 Meaning component
yú fish
敖
敖 Sound component
áo, aó, ào ramble, stroll, roam

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangŋaːw

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

亞 yà Asia, sub- Traditional

Original meaning: tomb

Depicts a wooden structure where coffins are placed. Based on the original meaning "tomb". The current meaning "Asia" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

埡啞堊婭惡

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'aeHʔˤrak-s secondary

說文解字

《說文》：“亞，醜也。象人局背之形。賈侍中說以為次弟也。”

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)

論 lùn debate Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 侖 represents the sound.

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
侖
侖 Sound component
arrange

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlwin[r]u[n] (in name of Lúnyǔ 論語)
lwon[r]ˤu[n] discuss, examine
lwonH[r]ˤu[n]-s discussion, discourse

說文解字

《說文》：“論，議也。从言，侖聲。”

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)

壇 altar Traditional

Components

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth

earth

亶
亶 Sound component
dǎn, dàn, chán sincere

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzyenX[d]anʔleveled area
dan[d]ˤanaltar
Zhengzhangdaːn
Unicodedhɑn

說文解字

祭場也。从土亶聲。

Sources

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