Lā​fū​sāng​jiǎ​ní

Rafsanjani

lā, la pull

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

is a component form of .

Sound component
stand
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlop[r]ˤəp break

說文解字

《說文》:“拉,摧也。从手,立聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

fu, fū man

Pictograph of a man. The top horizontal stroke either distinguishes it from the character or depicts a hairpin, something that was only worn by adults.

Components

one
Iconic component
dà, dài big

Pictograph of a person standing up.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 9 verified)

Iconic (4)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjup(r)a man
bju[b]a this, that
bjuba final particle

說文解字

《說文》:“夫,丈夫也。从大,一以象簪也。周制以八寸為尺,十尺為丈,人長八尺,故曰丈夫。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫林志強《《文源》評注》p.2
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

sāng mulberry tree

Depicts the leaves of a mulberry tree (). The leaves from a mulberry tree were the food silkworms would eat.

Components

Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts the leaves from the mulberry trees. Modern form looks like unrelated .

Iconic component
tree

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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
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

Component uses

Sound (2 of 7 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsang[s]ˤaŋ mulberry tree

說文解字

《說文》:“桑,蠶所食葉木。从叒、木。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

jiǎ, gǔ, jià merchant, trade Simplified

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

Components

Sound component
cover
Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China, shells were used as currency.

Sources

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

ní, nǐ Buddhist nun

Original meaning: stop; approach

Depicts one person () carrying another person () on their back. Based on the original meaning "stop; approach". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Iconic component
shī sitting person
Iconic component
bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 9 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnejXnˤərʔ to stop
nejHnˤərʔ-s to stop, obstruct
nrijnr[əj] near, close

說文解字

《說文》:“尼,從後近之。从尸,匕聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.675-676
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

merchant, trade Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
cover
Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China, shells were used as currency.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 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 Late Warring States ~250 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkuXC.qˤaʔ merchant; do business
kaeHC.qˤ<r>aʔ-s (or *mə.qˤ<r>aʔ-s?)price

說文解字

《說文》:“賈,賈市也。从貝,襾聲。一曰坐賣售也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica