旗帜鲜明
qí​zhì​xiān​míng

clear-cut

旗 qí banner

Phonosemantic compound. 㫃 represents the meaning and 其 represents the sound.

Components

㫃
㫃 Meaning component
yǎn flags flying
其
其 Sound component
qí its, his, (3p possessive)

Character Evolution

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
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgi[g](r)ə flag

說文解字

《說文》：“旗，熊旗五游，以象罰星，士卒以為期。从，其聲。《周禮》曰：‘率都建旗。’”

Sources

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

帜 zhì flag Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 巾 represents the meaning and 只 represents the sound. Simplified form of 幟.

Components

巾
巾 Meaning component
jīn cloth
只
只 Sound component
zhǐ, zhī only

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

鲜 xiān, xian fresh Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鱼 represents the meaning and 祥 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鮮.

Components

鱼
鱼 Meaning component
yú fish
祥
祥 SoundRemnant component
xiáng good luck

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

癣藓

Sources

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

明 míng, ming bright

The character was originally depicted moonlight (月) shining through a window (囧). The 囧 component was later reanalyzed as 日 (sun).

Components

囧
囧 SoundIconic component
jiǒng bright window

The modern form looks similar to 日 (sun).

Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 囧 than it was in ancient scripts.
月
月 Iconic component
yuè, yue moon

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
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 Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

盟萌

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmjaengmraŋ bright

說文解字

《說文》：“朙，照也。从月，从囧。明，古文朙，从日。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.551-552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)

幟 zhì flag Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 巾 represents the meaning and 戠 represents the sound.

Components

巾
巾 Meaning component
jīn cloth
戠
戠 Sound component
zhī, zhí to gather

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangtjɯɡs
tʰjɯɡs
hljɯɡs

說文解字

旌旗之屬。从巾戠聲。

Sources

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

鮮 xiān, xian fresh Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 魚 represents the meaning and 祥 represents the sound.

Components

魚
魚 Meaning component
yú fish
祥
祥 SoundRemnant component
xiáng good luck

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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 (0 of 2 verified)

蘚癬

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsjen[s][a]r fresh; good
sjens[a]r 鮮卑 *s[a]r.pe Xiānbēi
sjenX[s][e]rʔ rare, few

說文解字

《說文》：“鮮，魚名，出貉國。从魚，羴省聲。”

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)