大快朵颐
dà​kuài​duǒ​yí

feast

大 dà, dài big

Depicts an adult man facing forward and standing erect. The meaning later shifted to "big".

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (9 of 21 verified)

去太奇套尖奈赤契夸奎奢奕叁奘夯奁夼尜奩奓𢧤

Iconic (21)

天因美夫央亦乘衡牵熊夹爽奚鬱粦耎夨叕夾椉業

Sound (6 of 11 verified)

太达夺泰驮耷奪馱忕羍旲

Simplified (4)

类奖奋庆

Unknown (0 of 2 verified)

爨䙴

Deleted (1)

业

Remnant (1)

椉

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdaHlˤat-s (MC F!)big
dajHlˤa[t]-s big

說文解字

《說文》：“大，天大、地大、人亦大，故大象人形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.764
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

快 kuài, kuai rapid

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 夬 represents the sound.

Components

忄
忄 Meaning component
xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

夬
夬 Sound component
guài, jué parted

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

筷

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhwaejH[k]ʷʰˤret-s cheerful

說文解字

《說文》：“快，喜也。从心，夬聲。”

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)

朵 duo, duǒ flower

Original meaning: drooping ear of a grain

Embellishment of the character 禾 (grain), with a distinguishing short stroke on the ear of the millet plant to indicate the drooping ear. Based on the original meaning "drooping ear of a grain". The meaning later shifted to "flower" and "earlobe".

Components

丿
丿 Distinguishing component
piě, yì line

Here used as a distinguishing short stroke to indicate the drooping ear of a millet plant.

禾
禾 Iconic component
hé grain stalk
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 禾 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

躲跺垛剁哚

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangtoːlʔ
Unicodeduɑ̌

說文解字

《說文》：“朵，樹木垂朵朵也。从木，象形。此與采同意。”

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)

颐 yí cheeks Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 页 represents the meaning and 𦣞 represents the sound. Simplified form of 頤.

Components

页
页 Meaning component
yè page
𦣞
𦣞 Sound component
yí chin

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

頤 cheeks Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 頁 represents the meaning and 𦣞 represents the sound.

Components

頁
頁 Meaning component
yè (head), page
𦣞
𦣞 Sound component
yí chin

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyi[ɢ](r)ə chin

說文解字

《說文》：“，也。象形。頤，篆文。，籀文从首。”

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)