喀喇昆仑公路
Kā​lǎ​kūn​lún Gōng​lù

Karakoram Highway

喀 kā, kè, ke vomit

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

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
客
客 Sound component
kè guest

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkʰraːɡ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

喇 lǎ horn

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

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
剌
剌 Sound component
lá, là cut, slash

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

昆 kūn elder brother Simplified

Original meaning: insect

Depicts an insect. Based on the original meaning "insect", now preserved in the word 昆虫. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

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 Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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 (1 of 17 verified)

混棍琨馄锟鲲绲辊醌鹍緄輥鵾鯤崑錕餛

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwon[k]ˤu[n] elder brother

說文解字

《說文》：“昆，同也。从日，从比。”

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.608
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

仑 lún, lùn logical reasons Simplified

Simplified form of 侖. Depicts an assembly (亼) of writings (冊).

Components

亼
亼 MeaningSimplified component
jí (upside-down mouth), to assemble
匕
匕 Simplified component
bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Shorthand for the 冊 component in the traditional character 侖.

Component uses

Sound (3 of 7 verified)

论伦轮沦纶抡囵

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

纶

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

瘪

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

公 gōng public

Original meaning: earthen jar

Pictograph of a earthen jar for holding liquid, now written as 瓮. The current meaning "public" is a phonetic loan.

Components

八
八 Iconic component
bā eight

Depicts handles of a jar.

口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth

Depicts the opening of a jar.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 口 than it was in ancient scripts.

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
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 (5 of 14 verified)

容松讼翁颂瓮蚣衮忪袞頌訟鈆彸

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkuwngC.qˤoŋ impartial, just; public
kuwngC.qˤoŋ father; prince

說文解字

《說文》：“公，平分也。从八、从厶。八，猶背也。韓非曰：‘背厶為公’。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.86-87
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

路 lù road

Phonosemantic compound. 足 represents the meaning and 各 represents the sound.

Components

足
足 Meaning component
zú foot
各
各 Sound component
gè each
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
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 (1 of 5 verified)

露璐潞鹭鷺

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartluHCə.rˤak-s road

說文解字

《說文》：“路，道也。从足，从各。”

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)

崑 kūn Kunlun mountains in Jiang Su province. Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 山 represents the meaning and 昆 represents the sound.

Components

山
山 Meaning component
shān mountain
昆
昆 Sound component
kūn elder brother

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangkuːn
Unicodekuən

說文解字

崑崙，山名。从山昆聲。《漢書》楊雄文通用昆侖。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

崙 Kunlun mountains in Jiangsu Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 山 represents the meaning and 侖 represents the sound.

Components

山
山 Meaning component
shān mountain
侖
侖 Sound component
arrange

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangruːn
Unicodeluən

說文解字

《說文新附》：“崙，崑崙也。从山，侖聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)