杀鸡取卵
shā​jī​qǔ​luǎn

short-sightedness

杀 shā kill Simplified

Simplified form of 殺. Depicts a person being decapitated.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

刹脎剎

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

铩弑弒

Iconic (1)

殺

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.231-232
Readings & variants
Unicode

鸡 jī chickens Simplified

Simplified from a variant form of the traditional character 雞.

Components

又
又 Simplified component
yòu again

Shorthand form of the 奚 component in the traditional character 雞.

鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

取 qǔ take

Pictograph of a hand (又) grabbing an ear (耳). In ancient China, the ears of opponents in battle were cut off and collected as tokens of victory.

Components

耳
耳 Iconic component
ěr ear
又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
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 (8 of 12 verified)

最趣聚娶诹鲰陬叢齱㝡鯫冣

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

娶诹

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttshuwXtsʰˤoʔ take
tshjuXtsʰoʔ take
tshjuH[ts]ʰoʔ-s take (a wife)

說文解字

《說文》：“取，捕取也。从又，从耳。《周禮》：‘獲者取左耳。’《司馬法》曰：‘載獻聝。’聝者，耳也。”

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)

卵 luǎn egg

Original meaning: scrotum

Pictograph of the scrotum of a male's penis. The meaning later shifted to "egg", "ovum", and "spawn".

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 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

Meaning (1)

孵

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlwaXk.rˤorʔ (dialect: *-r > *-j)egg
lwanXk.rˤorʔ egg

說文解字

《說文》：“卵，凡物無乳者卵生。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.901-902
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

殺 shā kill Traditional

Depicts a person being decapitated (杀) with a weapon (殳).

Components

杀
杀 Iconic component
shā kill

Depicts a person being decapitated.

殳
殳 Iconic component
shū weapon or tool

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

鎩

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsreats<r>at kill
sreajHs<r>at-s diminish

說文解字

《說文》：“殺，戮也。从殳，杀聲。，古文殺；，古文殺；，古文殺。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.231-232
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

雞 jī chicken Traditional

Originally was a pictograph of a chicken. Later changed to a phonosemantic compound of 奚 and 隹 (bird).

Components

奚
奚 Sound component
xī where? what? how? why?
隹
隹 Meaning component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

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 Late Shang ~1100 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 Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkejkˤe fowl, chicken

說文解字

《說文》：“雞，知時畜也。从隹，奚聲。鷄，籀文雞从鳥。”

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)