双层公共汽车
shuāng​céng​gōng​gòng​qì​chē

double-decker bus

双 shuāng set of two Simplified

Simplified form of 雙. Depicts a pair of hands.

Components

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.

Sources

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

层 céng floor (of a building) Simplified

Simplified form of 層. Phonosemantic compound. 户 represents the meaning and 曾 represents the sound.

Components

户
户 Meaning component
hù, hu door
云
云 Simplified component
yún clouds

Shorthand for the 曾 component in the traditional character 層.

Sources

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

公 gōng public

Original meaning: earthen jar

Pictograph of a earthen jar for holding liquid, now written as 瓮. The current meaning "public" is a phonetic loan.

Components

八
八 Iconic component
bā eight

Depicts handles of a jar.

口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth

Depicts the opening of a jar.

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

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
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
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 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 (5 of 14 verified)

容松讼翁颂瓮蚣衮忪袞頌訟鈆彸

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkuwngC.qˤoŋ impartial, just; public
kuwngC.qˤoŋ father; prince

說文解字

《說文》：“公，平分也。从八、从厶。八，猶背也。韓非曰：‘背厶為公’。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.86-87
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

共 gòng together with

Pictograph of two hands holding up a vessel.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a vessel being held up.

廾
廾 Iconic component
gǒng two hands

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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 15 verified)

供洪恭巷哄拱龚烘衖珙蕻龔輂栱鬨

Iconic (1)

暴

Meaning (1)

巽

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartgjowngHN-k(r)oŋʔ-s together, all

說文解字

《說文》：“共，同也。从廿、廾。，古文共。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫裘錫圭 "Chinese Writing" p.189
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

汽 qì steam

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

气
气 SoundMeaning component
qì, qi air

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkʰɯds

說文解字

《說文》：“汽，水涸也。或曰泣下。从水，气聲。《詩》曰：‘汽可小康。’”

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)

车 chē cart, vehicle Simplified

Pictograph of a war chariot. The simplified character 车 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 車.

Component uses

Meaning (13 of 53 verified)

军转连轻较阵输载软轮轰辑辆辈辖轨辅舆轩辐轴轿轼辙轧辗辄辘辕轲轶辍辎辏辔轱轭毂轸轳辊轫辚辂轾辋轹轺轵辌辒辁轷

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

库斩厍砗

Iconic (1)

辇

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.939
Readings & variants
Unicode

雙 shuāng set of two Traditional

Depicts a pair of birds in the hand.

Components

雔
雔 Iconic component
chóu match, collate

Depicts a pair of birds.

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.


Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsraewng[s]roŋ a pair

說文解字

《說文》：“雙，隹二枚也。从雔，又持之。”

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)

層 céng floor (of a building) Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 户 represents the meaning and 曾 represents the sound.

Components

户
户 Meaning component
hù, hu door
曾
曾 Sound component
céng already

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzongN-s-tˤəŋ in two storeys, double
dzongm-s-tˤəŋ additional floor, field

說文解字

《說文》：“層，重屋也。从尸，曾聲。”

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)

車 chē cart, vehicle Traditional

Pictograph of a war chariot.

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
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 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

Meaning (19 of 50 verified)

較輕轉軟連載轎輔陣輸輓軌轘軸軍輾軒輪輩軛輿轂轗輻軔軻輒輥轟輂軲轍軾輛輟𨊠庫軋輊輬輯轆軼轅轡轤軫輭轀轄

Iconic (2)

軎輦

Sound (2)

庫斬

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

墼

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyhae[t.qʰ](r)A chariot
kjoC.q(r)a chariot

說文解字

《說文》：“車，輿輪之總名。夏后時奚仲所造。象形。，籀文車。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.939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)