yì​wù​bā​bǐ​tuǒ

amobarbital

different Simplified

Original meaning: carry on the head

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of . Based on the original meaning "carry on the head", now written as . The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Sound component
already
Meaning component
gǒng two hands
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "carry on the head", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartyiHɢ(r)ək-s different

說文解字

《說文》:“异,舉也。从廾,聲。”

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.204-205
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

5th heavenly stem

Original meaning: battle axe

Pictograph of a battle axe. Similar to , , and .

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 Xin 9-23 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmuwHm(r)uʔ-s
(~ *m(r)uʔ)
5th heavenly stem

說文解字

《說文》:“戊,中宮也,象六甲五龍相拘絞也。戊承丁,象人脅。”

Sources

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

ba, bā to wish

Depicts a person grabbing something with their hand. Original form of . In modern Chinese this character is usually used only for its sound.

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpaepˤra snake
paepˤra [place name]

說文解字

《說文》:“巴,蟲也。或曰食象蛇。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.1637
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

to compare

Two spoons side-by-side, conveying the meaning "to put together", "match", or "compare". also represents the sound.

Components

SoundIconic component
bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Depicts a spoon.

SoundIconic component
bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Depicts a spoon.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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 (3 of 21 verified)

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjijXC.pijʔ compare
pjijHpij-s combine; all

說文解字

《說文》:“比,密也。二人為从,反从為比。夶,古文比。”

Sources

Character origin
尤梓竹《甲骨文字考釋提要(一)》p.56李学勤《字源》p.725
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

tuǒ satisfactory

Depicts a hand () calming a woman () down. The meaning later shifted to "adequate", "suitable", and "satisfactory".

Components

Iconic component
zhǎo hand, claw

is a component form of .

Iconic component
nǚ, nü woman

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartthwaXn̥ˤojʔ at ease

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

different Traditional

Original meaning: carry on the head

Depicts two hands putting something on top of the head. Based on the original meaning "carry on the head", now written as . The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

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 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartyiHɢ(r)ək-s different

說文解字

《說文》:“異,分也。从廾、从畀。畀,予也。”

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.204-205
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica