Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 主 represents the sound. In simplified Chinese 注 is also used to mean "register; comment", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 註.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | trjuH | tro(ʔ)-s | to conduct water |
說文解字
《說文》：“注，灌也。从水，主聲。”
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)
Thought (意) is the sound (音) that comes from the mind (心). (Oversimplified for brevity. The 音 component in this character has a complicated history.)
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'iH | ʔ(r)ək-s | thought (n.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“意，志也。从心察言而知意也。从心，从音。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.790-791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)
Pictograph of a plow, which requires strength to operate.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | lik | k.rək | strength |
說文解字
《說文》：“力，筋也。象人筋之形。治功曰力，能圉大災。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.918-919
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: damaged object
Phonosemantic compound. 缶 represents the meaning and 夬 represents the sound.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | khwet | Nə-[k]ʷʰˤet | break; defective |
說文解字
《說文》：“缺，器破也。从缶，決省聲。”
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)
Original meaning: leisure; carefree
Depicts a person with their hair loose. Based on the original meaning "leisure; carefree", now written as 佚. The meaning later shifted to "lose" and "fail".
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | syit | l̥i[t] | lose |
說文解字
《說文》：“失，縱也。从手，乙聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 何景成《甲骨文字詁林補編》p.26黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.3349
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)