明眸皓齿
míng​móu​hào​chǐ

bright-eyed

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)

眸 móu pupil of eye

Components

目
目 Meaning component
mù eye

eye

牟
牟 Sound component
móu, mù, mào seek, get

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangmu
Unicodemiou

說文解字

目童子也。从目牟聲。《說文》直作牟。

Sources

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

皓 hào bright

Phonosemantic compound. 白 represents the meaning and 告 represents the sound. Simplified form of 暠.

Components

白
白 Meaning component
bái, bai white
告
告 Sound component
gào tell

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangɡuːʔ
Unicodehɑ̌u

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

齿 chǐ teeth Simplified

Simplified form of 齒. Pictograph of a mouth full of teeth. The sound component 止 was added later.

Components

止
止 Sound component
zhǐ (foot), stop
𠚕
𠚕 IconicSimplified component
chǐ teeth

Depicts a mouth full of teeth.

Component uses

Meaning (3 of 12 verified)

龄龋龈啮龌龇龅龉龃龆龀𱌮

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

啮龊

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.139
Readings & variants
Unicode

齒 chǐ teeth Traditional

Pictograph of a mouth full of teeth. The sound component 止 was added later.

Components

止
止 Sound component
zhǐ (foot), stop
𠚕
𠚕 Iconic component
chǐ teeth

Depicts a mouth full of teeth.

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 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
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (3 of 15 verified)

齡齮齧齣齦齲齜齵齟齶齱嚙齙齷齬

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

齪嚙

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyhiXt-[k]ʰə(ŋ)ʔ (or *t.ŋ̊əʔ)front teeth

說文解字

《說文》：“齒，口齗骨也。象口齒之形。止聲。，古文齒字。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.139
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)