ōu Europe Simplified

Original meaning: vomit

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "vomit". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Sound component
area
Meaning component
qiàn, qian yawn, deficient
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "vomit", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Sources

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

jǐ, jī small table Simplified

Pictograph of a small table. In simplified Chinese is also used to mean "how much", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character .

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 13 verified)

Meaning (2 of 7 verified)

Unknown (0 of 2 verified)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkijXC.kr[ə]jʔ stool

說文解字

《說文》:“几,踞几也。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.929漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

lǐ, li village

A village () is an area of land () where people have fields (). In simplified Chinese is also used to mean "inside", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character .

Components

Meaning component
tián field
Meaning component
earth

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (0 of 1 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartliX(mə.)rəʔ li (measure of distance); village

說文解字

《說文》:“里,居也。从田,从土。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.913
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

virtue

Originally written as , depicting a straight () heart (). The (walk) component was added later.

Components

Meaning component
chì, fú walk

is a component form of .

SoundMeaning component
virtue

Original form of .

Character Evolution

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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttoktˤək virtue

說文解字

《說文》:“德,升也。从彳,聲。”

Sources

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

ōu Europe Traditional

Original meaning: vomit

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "vomit". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Sound component
area
Meaning component
qiàn, qian yawn, deficient
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "vomit", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangqoː
qoːʔ
Unicodeqǒu

說文解字

《說文》:“歐,吐也。从欠,區聲。”

Sources

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

how much Traditional

Original meaning: danger

Depicts a weapon () cutting ropes (𢆶) tied around a person (). Based on the original meaning "danger". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

𢆶
𢆶 Iconic component
yōu, zī threads
Iconic component
spear
Iconic component
rén, ren person

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 7 verified)

Remnant (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkj+jkəj small; almost
kj+jXkəjʔ few; how many

說文解字

《說文》:“幾,微也,殆也。从,从戍。戍,兵守也。而兵守者危也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.318-319漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica