Yóu​lì​wū​sī​· Kǎi​sā

Julius Caesar

yóu especially

Original meaning: wart

Pictograph of a hand with a wart on it. The original meaning "wart" is now written as . The original meaning later expanded to "strange, bizarre" and "outstanding, special".

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 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

Sound (5 of 7 verified)

Unknown (0 of 2 verified)

Simplified (1)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthjuw[ɢ]ʷə fault; even more

說文解字

《說文》:“尤,異也。从乙,又聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.960
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

lì, li benefit

Depicts harvesting grain () with a blade (). Harvest was the main source of profit in agricultural societies.

Components

Iconic component
grain stalk
Iconic component
dāo knife

is a component form of .


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 11 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlijHC.ri[t]-s sharp; profit

說文解字

《說文》:“利,銛也。从刀;和然後利,从和省。《易》曰:‘利者,義之和也。’”

Sources

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

crow Simplified

Simplified form of . Pictograph of a crow. Similar to .

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

Sources

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

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

kǎi victorious Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

SoundMeaning component
victorious music, happy
Sound component
jǐ, jī small table
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.430
Readings & variants
Unicode

sā, sǎ release, scatter

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

is a component form of .

SoundMeaning component
sàn, sǎn scatter

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsaːd
Unicodesɑt

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

crow Traditional

Pictograph of a crow. Similar to .

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'u[ʔ]ˤa oh!
'uqˤa crow, raven; black
'uʔˤa 烏桓, 烏丸 Wūhuán: Avars (W. Hàn)

說文解字

《說文》:“烏,孝鳥也。象形。孔子曰:‘烏,呼也。’取其助气,故以為烏呼。,古文烏,象形。於,象古文烏省。”

Sources

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

victorious Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

SoundMeaning component
victorious music, happy
Sound component
jǐ, jī small table
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhojXC.qʰˤəjʔ pleasant

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.430
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica