序幕
xù​mù HSK7

prologue

序 xù order, sequence

Original meaning: walls at side of palace

Phonosemantic compound. 广 represents the meaning and 予 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "walls at side of palace". The meaning later shifted to "order" and "sequence".

Components

广
广 Meaning component
guǎng roof
Change in meaning
广 hints at the original meaning of 序, "walls at side of palace", which is no longer the most common meaning of 序 in modern Mandarin.
予
予 Sound component
yǔ give

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartzjoX[sə.l]aʔ walls at side of palace

說文解字

《說文》：“序，東西牆也。从广，予聲。”

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)

幕 mù curtain

Phonosemantic compound. 巾 represents the meaning and 莫 represents the sound. Simplified form of 幙.

Components

巾
巾 Meaning component
jīn cloth
莫
莫 Sound component
mò, mo do not

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

冪

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmakmˤakcovering
Zhengzhangmaːɡ
Unicodemɑk

說文解字

帷在上曰幕，覆食案亦曰幕。从巾莫聲。

Sources

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