永久虚电路
yǒng​jiǔ​xū​diàn​lù

PVC

永 yǒng long

Pictograph of a long river with a tributary.

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 (2 of 5 verified)

泳咏昶詠羕

Meaning (2 of 3 verified)

脉昶羕

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthjwaengX[ɢ]ʷraŋʔ long (time)

說文解字

《說文》：“永，長也，象水巠理之長。《詩》曰：‘江之永矣’。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.808
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

久 jiǔ long time (ago)

Original meaning: arrow nock

Depicts an arrow nock. The nock is the part of an arrow that is held against the bowstring before being launched. Same origin as 氒. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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 4 verified)

疚灸玖匛

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

畝

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkjuwX[k]ʷəʔ a long time

說文解字

《說文》：“久，以後灸之，象人兩脛後有距也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.480-481
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

虚 xū void, false Simplified

Simplified form of 虛. Phonosemantic compound. 虍 represents the sound and 丘 represents the meaning.

Components

虍
虍 Sound component
hū tiger
业
业 Simplified component
yè profession

Shorthand for the 丘 component in the traditional character 虛.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

墟嘘觑魖歔覷

Sources

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

电 diàn electricity Simplified

Original meaning: lightning

Simplified form of 電, which depicts lightning (申) during a rainstorm (雨). The 雨 component was deleted for simplification.

Components

電
雨 Deleted component
yǔ rain
申
申 SoundIconic component
shēn to extend

Depicts lightning.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.981-982
Readings & variants
Unicode

路 lù road

Phonosemantic compound. 足 represents the meaning and 各 represents the sound.

Components

足
足 Meaning component
zú foot
各
各 Sound component
gè each
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

露璐潞鹭鷺

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartluHCə.rˤak-s road

說文解字

《說文》：“路，道也。从足，从各。”

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)

虛 xū void, false Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 虍 represents the sound and 丘 represents the meaning.

Components

虍
虍 Sound component
hū tiger
丘
丘 Meaning component
qiū hill
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 丘 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

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 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 (0 of 1 verified)

噓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhjoC.qʰ(r)a hill, mound; abandoned city
xjoqʰ(r)a empty

說文解字

《說文》：“虛，大丘也。崐崘丘謂之崐崘虛，古者九夫為井，四井為邑，四邑為丘，丘謂之虛。从丘，虍聲。”

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)

電 diàn electricity Traditional

Original meaning: lightning

Depicts lightning (申) during a rainstorm (雨).

Components

雨
雨 Meaning component
yǔ rain
申
申 SoundIconic component
shēn to extend

Depicts lightning.

Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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-SagartdenHlˤi[n]-s lightning

說文解字

《說文》：“電，陰陽激燿也。从雨，从申。，古文電。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.981-982
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)