liàn love

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Simplified component
also

Shorthand of the phonetic component in the traditional character .

Meaning component
xīn, xin heart

Sources

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

ài love

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the sound and (friend) represents the meaning.

Components

Sound component
choke on something eaten
Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Simplified component
characterless component

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

zōng put together, arrange threads for weaving

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

Meaning component
silk

is a component form of .

Sound component
zōng, zong ancestor, sect

Sources

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

skill, art

Original meaning: to plant

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "to plant". The meaning later shifted to "skill" and "art". Simplified form of .

Components

Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

is a component form of .

Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "to plant", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
Sound component
second

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

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

jié holiday

Original meaning: bamboo joint

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bamboo joint". Later used as a measure word for segments and divisions of time.

Components

cao, cǎo grass

Shorthand for the ⺮ component in the traditional character .

jié person kneeling

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

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

eye

Pictograph of an eye.

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
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
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmjuwkC.m(r)[u]k eye

說文解字

《說文》:“目,人眼。象形。重童子也。,古文目。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.261-262
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica