希奇

希 xī hope

Original meaning: type of cloth

Composed of 爻 (cross shape) and 巾 (cloth). 爻 is here used to depict the pattern of the cloth. Originally depicted a type of cloth. The meaning later shifted to "sparse", "rare", and "hope".

Components

爻
爻 Iconic component
yáo, xiào diagrams for divination

Depicts pattern on the cloth.

巾
巾 Meaning component
jīn cloth

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

稀烯唏浠欷郗

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxj+jqʰəj thin, sparse

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.2866
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

奇 qí strange

Phonosemantic compound. 大 represents the meaning and 可 represents the sound.

Components

大
大 Meaning component
dà, dài big
可
可 Sound component
kě able to
Change in sound

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 18 verified)

骑寄椅倚崎畸琦绮犄旖猗欹剞齮掎騎綺埼

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

畸

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkje[k](r)aj odd (number)
gjeN-k(r)aj strange

說文解字

《說文》：“奇，異也。一曰不耦。从大，从可。”

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)