Two spoons side-by-side, conveying the meaning "to put together", "match", or "compare". 匕 also represents the sound.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pjijX | C.pijʔ | compare |
| pjijH | pij-s | combine; all |
說文解字
《說文》:“比,密也。二人為从,反从為比。夶,古文比。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 尤梓竹《甲骨文字考釋提要(一)》p.56李学勤《字源》p.725
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Simplified
Original meaning: tomb
Simplified form of 亞. Depicts a wooden structure where coffins are placed. Based on the original meaning "tomb". The current meaning "Asia" is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Old Chinese | |
|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | l'ɯːwɢ |
說文解字
《說文》:“迪,道也。从辵,由聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Zhengzhang Shangfang
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Old Chinese | |
|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | kʰɯds |
說文解字
《說文》:“汽,水涸也。或曰泣下。从水,气聲。《詩》曰:‘汽可小康。’”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Zhengzhang Shangfang
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Original meaning: tomb
Depicts a wooden structure where coffins are placed. Based on the original meaning "tomb". The current meaning "Asia" is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'aeH | ʔˤrak-s | secondary |
說文解字
《說文》:“亞,醜也。象人局背之形。賈侍中說以為次弟也。”
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)
Traditional
Pictograph of a war chariot.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tsyhae | [t.qʰ](r)A | chariot |
| kjo | C.q(r)a | chariot |
說文解字
《說文》:“車,輿輪之總名。夏后時奚仲所造。象形。,籀文車。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.939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)