实在 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

Chinese Character Wiki Wiki

shízài HSK2

really

shí, shi real Simplified

Original meaning: rich; plentiful

Simplified form of 實. Depicts a string of money (貫) under a roof (宀). Based on the original meaning "rich; plentiful". The meaning later expanded to "solid", "fruit", and "true". The 貫 component was changed to 头 for simplification.

Components

宀 Meaning component

mián roof

头 Simplified component

tóu, tou head

Shorthand for the 貫 component in the traditional character 實.

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

zài be at

Composed of 才 and 士, which both represent the sound.

Components

才 Sound component

cái, cai talent

士 Sound component

shì, shi scholar, soldier

Modern form looks like 土, but is unrelated.

Change in sound

在 and 士 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
在 dzojX
士 dzriX

Character Evolution

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dzojX	[dz]ˤəʔ	be at, be present

說文解字

《說文》：“在，存也。从土，才聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.908
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

shí, shi real Traditional

Original meaning: rich; plentiful

Depicts a string of money (貫) under a roof (宀). Based on the original meaning "rich; plentiful". The meaning later expanded to "solid", "fruit", and "true".

Components

宀 Meaning component

mián roof

貫 Meaning component

guàn a string of 1000 coins

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

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

Seal form — Seal Xin 9-23 AD

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

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	zyit	mə.li[t]	fruit; full

說文解字

《說文》：“實，富也。从宀，从貫。貫，貨貝也。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.593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)