延年益寿
yán​nián​yì​shòu

prolong life

延 yán delay

Original meaning: walk

Phonosemantic compound. 廴 represents the meaning and 正 represents the sound.

Components

正
正 Sound component
zhèng, zheng, zhēng correct
Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 正 than it was in ancient scripts.
廴
廴 Meaning component
yǐn, yìn walk

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 6 verified)

蛋诞蜒涎筵誕

Remnant (1)

蛋

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

埏

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyenla[n] extend

說文解字

《說文》：“延，長行也。从，丿聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.135
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

年 nián year

Original meaning: harvest

Pictograph of a person (人) harvesting grain (禾). The harvest season is a yearly event.

Components

禾
禾 Iconic component
hé grain stalk
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 禾 than it was in ancient scripts.
人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 人 than it was in ancient scripts.

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnenC.nˤi[ŋ] harvest; year

說文解字

《說文》：“年，穀孰也。从禾，千聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.574-575
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

益 yì benefit

Original meaning: overflow

Depicts water (水) filling up a container (皿). Based on the original meaning "overflow", now written as 溢. The meaning later shifted to "increase" and "benefit".

Components

水
水 Iconic component
shuǐ water

Depicts water.

皿
皿 Iconic component
mǐn, mǐng dish

Depicts a vessel for holding food or drink.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 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 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

溢隘谥缢镒嗌謚縊

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

蠲

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jiekq[i]k (dialect: *-ik > *-ek)increase

說文解字

《說文》：“益，饒也。从水、皿。皿，益之意也。”

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)

寿 shòu old age Simplified

Simplified form of 壽.

Components

耂
耂 Meaning component
lǎo old

耂 is a component form of 老.

◎
◎ Unknown component
characterless component

The meaning of this component is unclear.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 10 verified)

筹涛祷铸畴焘踌俦帱梼

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

俦

Sources

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

壽 shòu old age Traditional

Phonosemantic component. 耂 represents the meaning and 𢏚 represents the sound. Later 口 and 又 were added for unknown purpose.

Components

耂
耂 Meaning component
lǎo old
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 耂 than it was in ancient scripts.
𢏚
𢏚 Sound component
chóu plowed field
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 𢏚 than it was in ancient scripts.
口
口 Unknown component
kǒu, kou mouth
又
又 Unknown component
yòu again

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 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 Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 9 verified)

禱籌鑄疇檮躊燾濤幬

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzyuwX[N-t]uʔ longevity
dzyuwH[N-t]uʔ-s longevity

說文解字

《說文》：“壽，久也。从老省，聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫張世超《金文形義通解》p.2103
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)