Original meaning: to dig
Depicts holding a sharp wooden stick (弋) in the hand (又) to dig up dirt. Based on the original meaning "to dig". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | syuwk | s-tiwk | gather, harvest |
| syuwk | s-tiwk | 3rd of 4 brothers |
說文解字
《說文》：“叔，拾也。从又，尗聲。汝南名收芋為叔。，叔或从寸。”
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)
Depicts 10 (十) hand-lengths (又): 丈 (~3 meters) is a traditional Chinese unit of length equal to 10 尺 (~0.3 meters). The current use of 丈 as "husband" is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | drjangX | [d]raŋʔ | ten feet |
說文解字
十尺也。从又持十。
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)
Pictograph of a woman kneeling, with two dots representing the two nipples that mothers use to feed their young.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | muwX | məʔ (? or *mˤoʔ) | mother |
說文解字
《說文》：“母，牧也。从女，象褱子形。一曰象乳子也。”
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)