我醉欲眠
wǒ​zuì​yù​mián

frankness

我 wǒ I; me

Original meaning: weapon

Pictograph of a weapon with a forked blade and long handle. The meaning "I; me" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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
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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (6 of 15 verified)

义俄饿哦鹅娥峨蛾硪莪義锇餓鵝皒

Simplified (1)

义

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngaXŋˤajʔ we, I

說文解字

《說文》：“我，施身自謂也。或說我，頃頓也。从戈，从。，或說古垂字。一曰古殺字。，古文我。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.867
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

醉 zuì intoxicated

Phonosemantic compound. 酉 represents the meaning and 卒 represents the sound.

Components

酉
酉 Meaning component
yǒu wine
卒
卒 Sound component
zú, cù, cuì soldier, to finish

Character Evolution

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-SagarttswijHCə.tsu[t]-sdrunk (adj.)
Zhengzhangʔsuds
Unicodetzuì

說文解字

卒也。卒其度量，不至於亂也。一曰潰也。从酉从卒。

Sources

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

欲 yù desire

Phonosemantic compound. 欠, depicting a person with an open mouth, represents the meaning, while 谷 represents the sound.

Components

欠
欠 Meaning component
qiàn, qian yawn, deficient

Depicts a person with an open mouth.

谷
谷 Sound component
gǔ valley, ravine

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

慾

Meaning (1)

慾

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyowkɢ(r)ok desire (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“欲，貪欲也。从欠，谷聲。”

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)

眠 mián close eyes

Phonosemantic compound. 目 represents the meaning and 民 represents the sound.

Components

目
目 Meaning component
mù eye
民
民 Sound component
mín people

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmenmˤi[n]shut the eyes; sleep
Zhengzhangmiːn
Unicodemen

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang