cheat, deceive

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
its, his, (3p possessive)
Meaning component
qiàn, qian yawn, deficient

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhikʰ(r)ə to deceive, cheat

說文解字

《說文》:“欺,詐欺也。从欠,其聲。”

Sources

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

líng, lìng pure

Components

Meaning component
bīng ice

ice

Sound component
líng to surpass, to ascend

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartling[r]əŋtransgress; attack
lingp.rəŋice
Zhengzhangrɯŋ
Unicodeliəng

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

ruò weak

Original meaning: urinate

Depicts two people urinating (尿). Based on the original meaning "urinate", now written as 尿/. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

尿
尿 Iconic component
niào urine
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 尿 than it was in ancient scripts.
尿
尿 Iconic component
niào urine
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 尿 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnyaknewk weak

說文解字

《說文》:“弱,橈也,上象橈曲,彡象毛氂橈弱也。弱物并,故从二。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.705
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

xiǎo small

Depicts three small dots, representing the meaning "small". Originally the same character as . The small dots possibly represent grains of sand ().

Character Evolution

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (3 of 8 verified)

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Iconic (2)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsjewX[s]ewʔ small

說文解字

《說文》:“小,物之微也。从八,丨見而分之。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.79漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica