xì​chēng

nickname

play Simplified

Original meaning: military troops outside the main group

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

Components

Simplified component
yòu again

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

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

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

chēng, chèn call Simplified

Original meaning: measure weight

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "measure weight". The meaning later shifted to "lift", "raise", "praise", "reputation", and "call".

Components

Meaning component
grain stalk

Alludes to measuring the weight of grain.

Simplified component
ěr you

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

Sources

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

play Traditional

Original meaning: military troops outside the main group

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

Components

Sound component
earthenware with the shape of a bean
Meaning component
spear
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "military troops outside the main group", which is no longer the most common meaning of 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

chēng, chèn call Traditional

Original meaning: measure weight

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "measure weight". The meaning later shifted to "lift", "raise", "praise", "reputation", and "call".

Components

Meaning component
grain stalk

Alludes to measuring the weight of grain.

SoundMeaning component
chēng, chèn, chèng pick up

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyhingtʰəŋ weigh; evaluate; call
tsyhingHmə-tʰəŋ-s steelyard

說文解字

《說文》:“稱,銓也。从禾,爯聲。春分而禾生,日夏至晷景可度,禾有秒,秋分而秒定。律數十二,秒而當一分,十分而寸。其以為重,十二粟為一分,十二分為一銖。故諸程品皆从禾。”

Sources

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