戏剧家
xì​jù​jiā

playwright

戏 xì play Simplified

Original meaning: military troops outside the main group

Simplified form of 戲. Phonosemantic compound. 戈 represents the meaning and 䖒 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "military troops outside the main group". The meaning later shifted to "sport" and "play".

Components

又
又 Simplified component
yòu again

Shorthand for the 䖒 component in the traditional character 戲.

戈
戈 Meaning component
gē spear
Change in meaning
戈 hints at the original meaning of 戏, "military troops outside the main group", which is no longer the most common meaning of 戏 in modern Mandarin.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

剧 jù severe, dramatic, theatrical play Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 居 represents the sound. Simplified form of 劇.

Components

居
居 Sound component
jū live
刂
刂 Meaning component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Sources

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

家 jiā, jia house

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and a remnant of 豭 represents the sound.

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof
豭
豭 SoundRemnant component
jiā boar

Left half of 豭 (boar).

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
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 Late Shang ~1100 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 Western Zhou ~800 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
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

嫁稼镓傢

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkaekˤra household

說文解字

《說文》：“家，居也。从宀，豭省聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.589-590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)

戲 xì play Traditional

Original meaning: military troops outside the main group

Phonosemantic compound. 戈 represents the meaning and 䖒 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "military troops outside the main group". The meaning later shifted to "sport" and "play".

Components

䖒
䖒 Sound component
xī earthenware with the shape of a bean
戈
戈 Meaning component
gē spear
Change in meaning
戈 hints at the original meaning of 戲, "military troops outside the main group", which is no longer the most common meaning of 戲 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartxjeHŋ̊(r)ar-s sport, joke

說文解字

《說文》：“戲，三軍之偏也。一曰兵也。从戈，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)

劇 jù severe, dramatic, theatrical play Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 豦 represents the sound.

Components

豦
豦 Sound component
jù, qú a wild boar
刂
刂 Meaning component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangɡaɡ
Unicodeghiæk

說文解字

《說文新附》：“劇，尤甚也。从刀，未詳，豦聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)