approvedby Peter Olson · Dec 25, 2020, 07:26 AM· Reviewed by Peter Olson on Dec 25, 2020, 07:26 AM
pronunciation note
Changed fields: components
Original meaning: to hold
Phonosemantic compound. 又 represents the meaning and 之 represents the sound. 又 was later reanalyzed as 寸, which also depicts a hand. Based on the original meaning "to hold", now written as 持. The current meaning "temple" is a phonetic loan.
寺 and 止 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar
in older Chinese.
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 止 than it was in ancient scripts.
Character Evolution
BronzeLate Western Zhou~800 BCBronzeLate Spring and Autumn~500 BCBronzeEarly Warring States~400 BCSealLate Spring and Autumn~500 BCSealWarring States (Chu)475-221 BCSealWestern Han202 BC-9 ADSealShuowen~100 ADClericalQin221-206 BCClericalWestern Han202 BC-9 ADClericalEastern Han25-220 ADRegularModern
