pǐ​jí​tài​lái

adversity brings prosperity

fǒu not

Originally the same character as . Distinguishing component was added later to the character when it took on the meaning "not". represents the sound.

Components

SoundMeaning component
bù, bu no
Change in sound
kǒu, kou mouth

Added later when the character started to mean "not" and to distinguish from .

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjuwXpəʔ 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

extreme Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

Meaning component
tree
Sound component
extend

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangɡrab
ɡab

說文解字

《說文》:“极,驢上負也。从木,及聲。或讀若急。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

tài great

Original meaning: to slip

Depicts seizing a liquid () with hands (). represents the sound. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Sound component
dà, dài big
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Iconic component
gǒng two hands
Iconic component
shuǐ water

Character Evolution

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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartthajHl̥ˤa[t]-s great

說文解字

《說文》:“泰,滑也。从廾,从水,大聲。夳,古文泰。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

lái come Simplified

Original meaning: wheat

Simplified form of . Pictograph of a stalk of wheat. The current meaning "come" is a phonetic loan. The original meaning "wheat" is now written as .

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.465
Readings & variants
Unicode

extreme Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
tree
Sound component
jí, qì urgently

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgik[g](r)ək extreme

說文解字

棟也。从木亟聲。

Sources

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

lái come Traditional

Original meaning: wheat

Pictograph of a stalk of wheat. The current meaning "come" is a phonetic loan. The original meaning "wheat" is now written as .

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 8 verified)

Iconic (4)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlojmə.rˤək (> *mə.rˤə)a kind of wheat
lojmə.rˤək (> *rˤə)come

說文解字

《說文》:“來,周所受瑞麥來麰,一來二縫。象芒朿之形。天所來也,故為行來之來。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.465
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica