tóng​yì​fǎn​fù

tautology

tóng, tong, tòng together

Depicts a large object () like a shoulder carriage that requires the cooperation of multiple people working together to carry.

Components

Iconic component
fán all

Depicts a large object like a shoulder carriage.

Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth

Alludes to people speaking together to communicate.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 Warring States ~250 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (2)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartduwnglˤoŋ together, join

說文解字

《說文》:“同,合會也。从,从口。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.614
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

justice Simplified

Adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. In ancient China sheep () were associated with goodness and beauty, which is why is a component in characters like (beautiful), (benevolent), and (justice).

Components

yáng sheep
I; me
Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

fǎn reverse

Original meaning: climb

Pictograph of a hand () climbing a cliff (). Based on original meaning "climb", now written as . The meaning later shifted to "pull" and "reverse".

Components

Iconic component
chǎng cliff, (roof)
Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 13 verified)

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbaenX[b]ˤranʔ dignified, grand
pjonXCə.panʔ reverse (v.)

說文解字

《說文》:“反,覆也。从又、厂。反形。,古文。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.206漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

return Simplified

Pictograph of a foot entering or exiting a building, representing the meaning "to return".

Components

Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts some sort of enclosed building.

Iconic component
zhǐ, zhōng go

is a component form of . Depicts a foot.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 7 verified)

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjuwkm-p(r)uk return

說文解字

《說文》:“,行故道也。从夊,畗省聲。”

Sources

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

right conduct Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. In ancient China sheep () were associated with goodness and beauty, which is why is a component in characters like (beautiful), (benevolent), and (justice).

Components

Meaning component
yáng sheep
Sound component
I; me
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 Qin 221-206 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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngjeHŋ(r)aj-s duty; justice

說文解字

《說文》:“義,己之威儀也。从我羊。羛,《墨翟書》義从弗。魏郡有羛陽鄉,讀若錡。今屬鄴,本內黃北二十里。”

Sources

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

return Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
chì, fú walk

is a component form of .

SoundMeaning component
return

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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
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 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 (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbjuwH[N]-pruk-s again
bjuwkm-p(r)uk return

說文解字

《說文》:“復,往來也。从彳,复聲。”

Sources

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