待价而沽
dài​jià'ér​gū

seek high offer

待 dài wait, stay, treat

Phonosemantic compound. 彳 represents the meaning and 寺 represents the sound.

Components

彳
彳 Meaning component
chì, fú walk

彳 is a component form of 行.

寺
寺 Sound component
sì, shì temple
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdojX[d]ˤəʔ wait on; depend on

說文解字

《說文》：“待，竢也。从彳，寺聲。”

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)

价 jià price Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 介 represents the sound. Simplified form of 價.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

介
介 Sound component
jiè to lie between

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkreːds

說文解字

《說文》：“价，善也。从人，介聲。”

Sources

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

而 ér and

Original meaning: beard

Originally a pictograph of a beard, now written as 耏. The current use as a conjunction is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

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
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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 8 verified)

需耐鸸恧鲕耎耏鴯

Iconic (2)

耐耏

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

耍

Simplified (1)

斋

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnyinə and, but

說文解字

《說文》：“而，頰毛也。象毛之形。《周禮》曰：‘作其鱗之而。’”

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)

沽 gū, gǔ buy and sell

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 古 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

古
古 Sound component
gǔ old

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangkaː
kaːʔ
kaːs
Unicodego
gò

說文解字

水。出漁陽塞外，東入海。从水古聲。

Sources

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

價 jià price Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 賈 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

賈
賈 Sound component
merchant, trade

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkaeHC.qˤ<r>aʔ-s (or *mə.qˤ<r>aʔ-s?)price

說文解字

《說文新附》：“價，物直也。从人、賈，賈亦聲。”

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)