含水层
hán​shuǐ​céng

aquifer

含 hán contain, hold in mouth

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 今 represents the sound.

Components

今
今 Sound component
jīn now
Change in sound
口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

颔晗焓頷唅

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

唅

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthomCə-m-kˤ[ə]m hold in the mouth
homHCə-m-[k]ˤ[ə]m-s to put in the mouth

說文解字

《說文》：“含，嗛也。从口，今聲。”

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)

水 shuǐ water

Depicts the flow of water in a river.

Character Evolution

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

Meaning (4 of 14 verified)

冰浆汞泵颍滕淼荥凼氽汆滎氹漿

Iconic (8)

益泰泉尿沓盥彔眔

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsywijXs.turʔ (E dialect: *-r > *-j)water; river

說文解字

《說文》：“水，準也。北方之行。象眾水並流，中有微陽之气也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.795
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

层 céng floor (of a building) Simplified

Simplified form of 層. Phonosemantic compound. 户 represents the meaning and 曾 represents the sound.

Components

户
户 Meaning component
hù, hu door
云
云 Simplified component
yún clouds

Shorthand for the 曾 component in the traditional character 層.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

層 céng floor (of a building) Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 户 represents the meaning and 曾 represents the sound.

Components

户
户 Meaning component
hù, hu door
曾
曾 Sound component
céng already

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzongN-s-tˤəŋ in two storeys, double
dzongm-s-tˤəŋ additional floor, field

說文解字

《說文》：“層，重屋也。从尸，曾聲。”

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)