图坦卡蒙
Tú​tǎn​kǎ​méng

Tutankhamen

图 tú map Simplified

Simplified form of 圖. Depicts a map of city boundaries (囗) and places outside the city boundaries (啚).

Components

囗
囗 Iconic component
wéi, guó surround

Depicts walls of a city.

冬
冬 Simplified component
dōng winter

Shorthand for the 啚 component in the traditional character 圖.

Sources

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

坦 tǎn flat

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 旦 represents the sound.

Components

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth
旦
旦 Sound component
dàn dawn

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartthanX[tʰ]ˤa[n]ʔ level, at ease

說文解字

《說文》：“坦，安也。从土，旦聲。”

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)

卡 kǎ stuck

Origin unclear, but typically explained as being stuck between something above (上) and something below (下). The uses of 卡 to mean "card" or "calorie" are foreign phonetic loans.

Components

上
上 Iconic component
shàng, shang up
下
下 Iconic component
xià, xia under

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

咔胩佧

Sources

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

蒙 méng, mēng, měng cover

Original meaning: a parasitic vine

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 冡 represents the sound. Originally the name of a plant, later meanings coincide with the original meaning of 冡 (to cover).

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass
Change in meaning
艹 hints at the original meaning of 蒙, "a parasitic vine", which is no longer the most common meaning of 蒙 in modern Mandarin.
冡
冡 Sound component
méng to cover

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 9 verified)

朦檬蠓矇艨礞懞濛曚

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmuwngmˤoŋ cover (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“蒙，王女也。从艸，冡聲。”

Sources

Character origin
李學勤 《字源》 p.58
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

圖 tú map Traditional

Depicts a map of city boundaries (囗) and places outside the city boundaries (啚).

Components

囗
囗 Iconic component
wéi, guó surround

Depicts walls of a city.

啚
啚 Iconic component
bǐ, tú remote place

Depicts a granary outside city walls.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdu[d]ˤa consider

說文解字

《說文》：“圖，畫計難也。从口，从啚。啚，難意也。”

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)