kāi​kǒu​chéng​zāng

foul-mouthed

kāi open Simplified

Simplified form of . Pictograph of two hands () opening the bolt () on a door (). The traditional component was removed for simplification.

Components

Deleted component
mén, men door

The traditional component was removed for simplification.

Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a bolt on a door.

Iconic component
gǒng two hands

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.836
Readings & variants
Unicode

kǒu, kou mouth

Pictograph of a mouth.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 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 (2 of 5 verified)

Unknown (1 of 2 verified)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhuwXkʰˤ(r)oʔ mouth

說文解字

《說文》:“口,人所以言食也。象形。”

Sources

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

chéng, cheng completed

Original meaning: city

Depicts defending city walls () with an axe (). also represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "city", now written as . The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Iconic component
xū, qu 11th terrestrial branch

Depicts an axe.

SoundIconic component
dīng cubes

Depicts city walls.

Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 6 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzyeng[d]eŋ to become (v.i.)
dzyengm-[d]eŋ to complete (tr. v)

說文解字

《說文》:“成,就也。从戊,丁聲。,古文成从午。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.963-964漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

zàng, zāng internal organs, dirty Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of (dirty) and (internal organ).

Components

Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of .

Sound component
zhuāng village, farmstead

Sources

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

kāi open Traditional

Pictograph of two hands () opening the bolt () on a door ().

Components

Iconic component
mén, men door
Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a bolt on a door.

Iconic component
gǒng two hands

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhojNə-[k]ʰˤəj to open (v.i.)
khoj[k]ʰˤəj to open (v.t.)

說文解字

《說文》:“開,張也。从門,从幵。,古文開。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.836
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

dirty Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
gǔ, gú bone
Sound component
zàng bury

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangʔsaːŋʔ

Sources

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