tóng​bǐ

year-on-year

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

to compare

Two spoons side-by-side, conveying the meaning "to put together", "match", or "compare". also represents the sound.

Components

SoundIconic component
bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Depicts a spoon.

SoundIconic component
bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Depicts a spoon.


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 Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 21 verified)

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjijXC.pijʔ compare
pjijHpij-s combine; all

說文解字

《說文》:“比,密也。二人為从,反从為比。夶,古文比。”

Sources

Character origin
尤梓竹《甲骨文字考釋提要(一)》p.56李学勤《字源》p.725
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica