汉族 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

Chinese Character Wiki Wiki

Hànzú

Han

hàn Chinese people Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 𦰩 represents the sound. In simplified characters, the 𦰩 component is abbreviated to 又.

Components

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

又 Simplified component

yòu again

Shorthand for the 𦰩 component in the traditional character 漢.

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

zú clan, tribe, race

Depicts a flag (㫃) representing a clan and an arrow (矢) representing their military power.

Components

㫃 Iconic component

yǎn flags flying

矢 Iconic component

shǐ arrow

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

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC

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

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

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dzuwk	[dz]ˤok	clan

說文解字

《說文》：“族，矢鋒也，束之族族也。从，从矢。”

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)

hàn Chinese people Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 𦰩 represents the sound.

Components

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

𦰩 Sound component

jiān to sigh

Change in sound

漢 and 𦰩 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

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

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	xanH	n̥ˤar-s (W dialect: n̥- > MC x-, -r > *-n)	(river name)

說文解字

《說文》：“漢，漾也，東為滄浪水。从水，難省聲。，古文。”

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)