叠层岩
dié​céng​yán

stromatolite

叠 dié pile Simplified

Clothes 叒 stacked on top of a drawer 冝

Components

叒
叒 Meaning component
ruò obedient
冝
冝 Meaning component
yí suitable

Sources

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

岩 yán cliff

The rocks 石 that make up a mountain 山

Components

山
山 Meaning component
shān mountain
石
石 Meaning component
shí stone

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngæm[ŋ]ˤr[a]m (< uvular?)rocky, lofty
Zhengzhangŋraːm
Unicodengam

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang

疊 dié pile Traditional

Clothes 畾 stacked on top of a drawer 冝

Components

畾
畾 Meaning component
léi thunder
冝
冝 Meaning component
yí suitable

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdeplˤ[i]pdouble, accumulate
Zhengzhangl'ɯːb
Unicodedhep

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

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)