Depicts two pieces of meat together to convey the meaning "much" or "plentiful". In ancient China meat was a rare treat. Unrelated to 夕.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ta | [t.l]ˤaj | many |
說文解字
《說文》：“多，重也。从重夕。夕者，相繹也，故為多。重夕為多，重日為。，古文多。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.557
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Pictograph of a hand grabbing a woman's hair to take her as a wife. In ancient China, women of marriageable age wore hairpins (compare with 每).
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tshej | [tsʰ]ˤəj | consort, wife |
| tshejH | [tsʰ]ˤəj-s | give as wife |
說文解字
《說文》：“妻，婦與夫齊者也。从女，从屮，从又。又，持事，妻職也。，古文妻从、女。，古文貴字。”
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)
Original meaning: break
Depicts cutting down a tree (未) with a knife (刂). Based on the original meaning "break". The meaning later shifted to "control".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tsyejH | tet-s | cut out, prepare |
說文解字
《說文》：“制，裁也。从刀，从未。未，物成，有滋味，可裁斷。一曰止也。，古文制如此。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.357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)