ān​dì​sī​shān​mài

Andes

ān peaceful

Depicts a woman () sitting under a roof (). Older forms of this character depict a person kneeling with a mark on their thigh and shin to indicate sitting.

Components

Iconic component
mián roof
Iconic component
nǚ, nü woman

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 9 verified)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'an[ʔ]ˤa[n] peace(ful)
'an[ʔ]ˤa[n] how
'an[ʔ]ˤa[n] 安息 Ānxī (Iranian country in the western regions, W. Hàn; from Aršaka = Arsaces, founder of the Arsacid dynasty)

說文解字

《說文》:“安,靜也。从女在宀下。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫徐超《古漢字通解500例》p.1-2
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

sequence

Originally a variant of (younger brother), which originally meant "order".

Components

Unknown component
zhú bamboo

Corruption of the top part of .

SoundMeaning component
dì, di younger brother

Based on the original meaning of "order".

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdejH[l]ˤəjʔ-s sequence

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.478
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

this

Original meaning: cut

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "cut". Nowadays this character is usually only used for its sound in phonetic loans.

Components

Meaning component
jīn axe
Sound component
its, his, (3p possessive)
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 5 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsje[s]e split (v.)
sje[s]e this
sjese 斯須 a short time

說文解字

《說文》:“斯,析也。从斤,其聲。《詩》曰:‘斧以斯之。’”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

shān mountain

Pictograph of a mountain.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 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

Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsreans-ŋrar mountain, hill

說文解字

《說文》:“山,宣也。宣气,生萬物,有石而高。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

mài blood vessels Simplified

Simplified form and variant of . The blood vessels is the part of the body (⺼) where blood flows ().

Components

Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of .

Meaning component
yǒng long

Used here to allude to flowing blood in the blood vessels.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmeakC.mˤ<r>[i]k vein

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.1019
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart

mài blood vessels Traditional

The blood vessels is the part of the body (⺼) where blood flows (𠂢).

Components

Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of .

𠂢
𠂢 SoundMeaning component
pài river branching

Used here to allude to flowing blood in the blood vessels. 𠂢 also represents the sound.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmeakC.mˤ<r>[i]k vein

說文解字

《說文》:“,血理分衺行體者,从从血。脈,或从肉。衇,籀文。”

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.1019
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica