含糊其词
hán​hú​qí​cí

equivocate

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)

糊 hu, hú muddled, paste

Phonosemantic compound. 米 represents the meaning and 胡 represents the sound.

Components

米
米 Meaning component
mǐ rice
胡
胡 Sound component
hú beard

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthuCə.[g]ˤa
(~ *C.[g]ˤa; no pre-Qín exx.)		to paste (v.)

Sources

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

其 qí its, his, (3p possessive)

Original meaning: basket

Pictograph of a basket, now written as 箕. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 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 (8 of 18 verified)

斯期基旗欺棋琪祺淇箕麒綦骐萁蜞鯕鲯朞

Iconic (3)

粪糞棄

Deleted (1)

弃

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgigə modal particle
gigə (3p possessive)

說文解字

《說文》：“箕，簸也。从竹；，象形；下其丌也。，古文箕省。，亦古文箕。，亦古文箕。廿从一八，籀文箕。，籀文箕。”

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)

词 cí words Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 讠 represents the meaning and 司 represents the sound. Simplified form of 詞.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

司
司 Sound component
sī take charge of

Sources

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

詞 cí words Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 司 represents the sound.

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
司
司 Sound component
sī take charge of

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartzisə.lə utterance

說文解字

《說文》：“詞，意內而言外也。从司，从言。”

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)