周边商品
zhōu​biān​shāng​pǐn

merch

周 zhōu cycle

Original meaning: to carve jade

Depicts a carved jade object, now written as 彫/琱. The meaning later shifted to "circumference" and "cycle". Later the 口 component was added when 周 was used to refer to a geographical region to indicate that the character was only "mouthed", i.e. used for its sound. In simplified Chinese 周 is also used to mean "week", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 週.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a jade object that has been carved.

口
口 Distinguishing component
kǒu, kou mouth

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 18 verified)

调雕绸稠碉凋惆調啁鲷鵰週赒蜩鯛椆綢賙

Iconic (1)

畫

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyuwtiw Zhōu (dynasty and place)
tsyuwtiw cycle; all around

說文解字

《說文》：“周，密也。从用、口。，古文周字从古文及。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.99-100林志強《《文源》評注》p.134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)

边 biān, bian edge Simplified

Simplified form of 邊. Phonosemantic compound. 辶 and 方 represent the meaning, while 自 and 丙 represent the sound. The traditional components 自 and 丙 were removed for simplification.

Components

力
力 Simplified component
lì, li power

Shorthand for the 方 component in the traditional character 邊.

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

笾

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

商 shāng commerce, business

Origin unclear. Composed of 辛 (chisel) and 丙 (pedestal) with 口 being later added as a distinguishing component for the name of an ancient kingdom.

Components

辛
辛 Unknown component
xīn laborious

The purpose of this component is unclear.

丙
丙 Unknown component
bǐng third

The purpose of this component is unclear.

口
口 Distinguishing component
kǒu, kou mouth

This component was later added when the character was used for the name of an ancient kingdom.

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 Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

熵墒

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsyangs-taŋ musical note
syangs-taŋ (place name)
syangs-taŋ estimate; business; trader

說文解字

《說文》：“商，从外知內也。从，章省聲。，古文商。，亦古文商。，籀文商。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫The Outlier Linguistics Dictionary of Chinese Characters中華語文知識庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

品 pǐn product

Triple of 口. Depicts several types of things together.

Components

口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth
口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth
口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (6)

区临臨區喿喦

Sound (3 of 5 verified)

临臨闆榀嵒

Simplified (2)

区临

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartphimXpʰr[ə]mʔ kind, class

說文解字

《說文》：“品，眾庶也。从三口。”

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)

邊 biān, bian edge Traditional

Phonosemantic compound with two sound components and two meaning components. 辶 and 方 represent the meaning, while 自 and 丙 represent the sound.

Components

自
自 Sound component
zì (nose), self

自 was the original form of 鼻 (bí; nose).

丙
丙 Sound component
bǐng third
方
方 Meaning component
fāng, fang square
辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

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
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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpenpˤe[n] side

Sources

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