帖撒罗尼迦前书
Tiě​sā​luó​ní​jiā​qián​shū

1 Thessalonians

帖 tiē, tiě, tiè invitation card

Phonosemantic compound. 巾 represents the meaning and 占 represents the sound.

Components

巾
巾 Meaning component
jīn cloth
占
占 Sound component
zhàn divine
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

萜

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

《說文》：“帖，帛書署也。从巾，占聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

撒 sā, sǎ release, scatter

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 散 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

散
散 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

罗 luó, luō, luo net for catching birds Simplified

Simplified form of 羅. Depicts a net (网) for catching birds (隹).

Components

网
网 Iconic component
wǎng net
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 网 than it was in ancient scripts.
夕
夕 Simplified component
xī evening

Shorthand for the 隹 component in the traditional character 羅.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 7 verified)

逻萝锣椤箩猡啰

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

尼 ní, nǐ Buddhist nun

Original meaning: stop; approach

Depicts one person (匕) carrying another person (尸) on their back. Based on the original meaning "stop; approach". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

尸
尸 Iconic component
shī sitting person
匕
匕 Iconic component
bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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 (2 of 9 verified)

呢泥妮昵伲怩旎铌坭

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnejXnˤərʔ to stop
nejHnˤərʔ-s to stop, obstruct
nrijnr[əj] near, close

說文解字

《說文》：“尼，從後近之。从尸，匕聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.675-676
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

迦 jiā, xiè character for transliteration

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 加 represents the sound.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

加
加 Sound component
jiā add

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangka
kal
kraːl
Unicodega

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

前 qián in front

Original meaning: cut

Phonosemantic compound. 歬 represents the sound, and 刂 represents the meaning. Based on the original meaning "cut", now written as 剪. The current meaning "in front" is a phonetic loan.

Components

歬
歬 Sound component
qián go forward
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 歬 than it was in ancient scripts.
刂
刂 Meaning component
dāo knife
Change in meaning
刂 hints at the original meaning of 前, "cut", which is no longer the most common meaning of 前 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 5 verified)

箭剪煎翦湔

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzen[dz]ˤen
(~ *m-dzˤen)		before

說文解字

《說文》：“歬，不行而進謂之歬。从止在舟上。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫The Outlier Linguistics Dictionary of Chinese Characters
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

书 shū book Simplified

Simplified form of 書. Phonosemantic compound. 聿 represents the meaning and 者 represents the sound. The simplified character 书 is derived from the cursive form of 書.

Components

聿
聿 MeaningSimplified component
yù writing brush
者
者 SoundSimplified component
zhě one who...
Change in sound

Sources

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

羅 net for catching birds Traditional

Depicts a net (网) for catching birds (隹). The 糹 (silk; thread) component was added later.

Components

网
网 Iconic component
wǎng net
糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

隹
隹 Iconic component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

蘿邏囉儸籮鑼

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlarˤaj a kind of net (on a handle?) (Shuōwén: 'bird net')

說文解字

《說文》：“羅，以絲罟鳥也。从网，从維。古者芒氏初作羅。”

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)

書 shū book Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 聿 represents the meaning and 者 represents the sound.

Components

聿
聿 Meaning component
yù writing brush
者
者 Sound component
zhě one who...
Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 者 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsyos-ta write

說文解字

《說文》：“書，箸也。从聿，者聲。”

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)