坦尚尼亚 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

tǎn flat

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

Components

土 Meaning component

tǔ earth

旦 Sound component

dàn dawn

Character Evolution

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	thanX	[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)

shàng, shang esteem

Original meaning: high place

Depicts a large room. Based on the original meaning "high place". The meaning later shifted to "esteem".

Components

八 Distinguishing component

bā eight

冂 Sound Iconic component

jiōng, jiǒng large room

Depicts a large room.

口 Distinguishing component

kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (14 of 24 verified)

当常党掌堂赏躺尝倘趟棠敞裳淌绱徜惝黨耥賞䠀牚嘗當 show all 24 show fewer

Simplified (1)

当

Remnant (1)

当

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dzyangH	[d]aŋ-s	upwards
	dzyangH	[d]aŋ-s	still, yet

說文解字

《說文》：“尚，曾也，庶幾也。从八，向聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.81-82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)

ní, nǐ Buddhist nun

Original meaning: stop; approach

Depicts one person (匕) carrying another person (尸) on their back. Based on the original meaning "stop; approach". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

尸 Iconic component

shī sitting person

匕 Iconic component

bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (2 of 9 verified)

呢泥妮昵伲怩旎铌坭

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	nejX	nˤərʔ	to stop
	nejH	nˤərʔ-s	to stop, obstruct
	nrij	nr[əj]	near, close

說文解字

《說文》：“尼，從後近之。从尸，匕聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.675-676
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

yà Asia, sub- Simplified

Original meaning: tomb

Simplified form of 亞. Depicts a wooden structure where coffins are placed. Based on the original meaning "tomb". The current meaning "Asia" is a phonetic loan.