灵犀相通
líng​xī​xiāng​tōng

kindred spirits

灵 líng, ling spirit Simplified

Simplified form of 靈. Phonosemantic compound. 巫 represents the meaning and 霝 represents the sound.

Components

彐
彐 Simplified component
jì snout

Shorthand for the 霝 component in the traditional character 靈.

火
火 Simplified component
huǒ fire

Shorthand for the 巫 component in the traditional character 靈.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

棂

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangreːŋ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

犀 xī rhinoceros

Phonosemantic compound. 尾 represents the sound and 牛 represents the meaning.

Components

尾
尾 Sound component
wěi tail
Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 尾 than it was in ancient scripts.
牛
牛 Meaning component
niú cow

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Western Zhou 1045-771 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

墀樨遲

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsejs.lˤəj rhinoceros

說文解字

《說文》：“犀，南徼外牛，一角在鼻，一角在頂，似豕。从牛，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)

相 xiāng, xiàng mutual

Original meaning: look at

Depicts an eye (目) looking at a tree (木). Based on the original meaning "look at". The meaning of this character has shifted over time to "compare" and "each other".

Components

木
木 Iconic component
mù tree
目
目 Iconic component
mù eye

Character Evolution

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 Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 8 verified)

想箱湘厢霜缃葙廂

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsjang[s]aŋ mutually
sjangH[s]aŋ-s appearance, quality

說文解字

《說文》：“相，省視也。从目，从木。《易》曰：‘地可觀者莫可觀於木。’《詩》曰：‘相鼠有皮。’”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.267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)

通 tōng, tòng pass through

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 甬 represents the sound.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

甬
甬 Sound component
yǒng, tǒng, dòng path

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

嗵

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartthuwngl̥ˤoŋ penetrate

說文解字

達也。从辵甬聲。

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)

靈 líng, ling spirit Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 巫 represents the meaning and 霝 represents the sound.

Components

霝
霝 Sound component
líng drops of rain
巫
巫 Meaning component
wū wizard, shaman

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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 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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

欞

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartleng[r]ˤeŋ supernatural

說文解字

《說文》：“，靈巫，以玉事神。从玉，霝聲。靈，或从巫。”

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)