小巧玲珑
xiǎo​qiǎo​líng​lóng

dainty

小 xiǎo small

Depicts three small dots, representing the meaning "small". Originally the same character as 少. The small dots possibly represent grains of sand (沙).

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 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

Meaning (3 of 8 verified)

孙尖尘肖隙尕尜尗

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

肖県

Iconic (2)

𭕆𧴪

Simplified (1)

孙

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsjewX[s]ewʔ small

說文解字

《說文》：“小，物之微也。从八，丨見而分之。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.79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)

巧 qiǎo skillful

Phonosemantic compound. 工 represents the meaning and 丂 represents the sound.

Components

工
工 Meaning component
gōng work
丂
丂 Sound component
kǎo, qiǎo, yú axe handle

Character Evolution

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
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

窍

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhaewX[kʰ]ˤruʔ artful

說文解字

《說文》：“巧，技也。从工，丂聲。”

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)

玲 líng tinkling of jade

Phonosemantic compound. 王 represents the meaning and 令 represents the sound.

Components

王
王 Meaning component
wáng king
令
令 Sound component
lìng command

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangreːŋ
Unicodeleng

說文解字

玉聲。从玉令聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

珑 lóng a gem cut like dragon Simplified

Simplified form of 瓏. Phonosemantic compound. 𤣩 represents the meaning and 龙 represents the sound.

Components

𤣩
𤣩 Meaning component
yù jade
龙
龙 SoundMeaning component
lóng dragon

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

瓏 lóng a gem cut like a dragon Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 𤣩 represents the meaning and 龍 represents the sound.

Components

𤣩
𤣩 Meaning component
yù jade
龍
龍 SoundMeaning component
lóng dragon

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangroːŋ
Unicodelung

說文解字

《說文》：“瓏，禱旱玉，龍文。从玉，从龍。龍亦聲。”

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)