Originally the same character as 不. Distinguishing component 口 was added later to the character when it took on the meaning "not". 不 represents the sound.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pjuwX | pəʔ | not |
說文解字
《說文》：“否，不也。从口，从不，不亦聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.94-95
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Simplified
Traditional
Original meaning: law
Depicts carving inscriptions on bronzeware (鼎) with a knife (刂). Based on the original meaning "law". In ancient China, some legal writings were inscribed on bronzeware.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tsok | [ts]ˤək | then |
| tsok | [ts]ˤək | rule, pattern |
說文解字
《說文》：“則，等畫物也。从刀，从貝。貝，古之物貨也。，古文則。，亦古文則。，籀文則从鼎。”
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)