Origin unclear. In simplified Chinese, in addition to the meaning "only", 只 is also used as a measure word. In traditional Chinese this meaning is written as 隻.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | |
|---|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | klje | |
| kljeʔ | ||
| Unicode | jǐɛ |
說文解字
《說文》：“只，語已詞也。从口，象氣下引之形。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.149-150
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Zhengzhang Shangfang
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Depicts a hand (又) holding meat (肉). In Oracle script this character was written the same as the phonetically similar 又, but later the 肉 component was added to distinguish them.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | hjuwX | [ɢ]ʷəʔ | have, exist |
說文解字
《說文》：“有，不宜有也。《春秋傳》曰：‘日月有食之。’从月，又聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.550
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)