Original meaning: go on foot
Phonosemantic compound. 辵 represents the meaning and 土 represents the sound. 土 also represents the meaning. Based on the original meaning "go on foot". The meaning later shifted to "disciple".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | du | [d]ˤa | go on foot |
說文解字
《說文》：“，步行也。从辵，土聲。”
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)
Original meaning: order
Pictograph of a rope neatly wrapped around a weapon handle. Based on the original meaning "orderly". The meaning later shifted to "next in sequence" (now written as 第) and "younger brother".
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dejX | lˤəjʔ | younger brother |
說文解字
《說文》：“弟，韋束之次弟也。从古字之象。，古文弟，从古文韋省，丿聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.477-478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)