桃园三结义 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

táo peach

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 兆 represents the sound.

Components

木 Meaning component

mù tree

兆 Sound component

zhào omen

Character Evolution

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	daw	C.lˤaw	peach
Zhengzhang		l'aːw
Unicode	dhɑu

說文解字

果也。从木兆聲。

Sources

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

yuán garden Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 元 represents the sound. Simplified form of 園.

Components

囗 Meaning component

wéi, guó surround

元 Sound component

yuán first

Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	ŋoːn

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang

sān three

Three horizontal strokes, representing the number three.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

参仨闫參

Meaning (2 of 4 verified)

参叁仨參

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	sam	s.rum (s.r- > s-; infl. by 四 s-?)	three
	samH	s.r[u]m-s (s.r- > s-, infl. by 四 *s-?)	three times

說文解字

《說文》：“三，天地人之道也。从三數。弎，古文三从弋。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.51
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

jié, jiē knot Simplified

Simplified form of 結. Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 吉 represents the sound.

Components

纟 Meaning component

mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

吉 Sound component

jí lucky

Sources

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

yì justice Simplified

Adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 義. Phonosemantic compound. 羊 represents the meaning and 我 represents the sound. In ancient China sheep (羊) were associated with goodness and beauty, which is why 羊 is a component in characters like 美 (beautiful), 善 (benevolent), and 義 (justice).

Components

羊 Meaning Simplified component

yáng sheep

我 Sound Simplified component

wǒ I; me

Change in sound

义 and 我 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
义 *ŋ(r)aj-s
我 *ŋˤajʔ

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

议仪蚁舣

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

yuán garden Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 袁 represents the sound.

Components

囗 Meaning component

wéi, guó surround

袁 Sound component

yuán robe

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	hjwon	C.ɢʷa[n]	garden

說文解字

《說文》：“園，所以樹果也。从囗，袁聲。”

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)

jié, jiē knot, tie Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 吉 represents the sound.

Components

糹 Meaning component

mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

吉 Sound component

jí lucky

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	ket	kˤi[t]	tie (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“結，締也。从糸，吉聲。”

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)

yì right conduct Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 羊 represents the meaning and 我 represents the sound. In ancient China sheep (羊) were associated with goodness and beauty, which is why 羊 is a component in characters like 美 (beautiful), 善 (benevolent), and 義 (justice).