Original meaning: bucket
Depicts a bucket with a handle on the right side. Based on the original meaning "bucket". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "use".
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | yowngH | loŋ-s | use (v.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“用，可施行也。从卜，从中。衛宏說。，古文用。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.253-254漢語多功能字庫林志強《《文源》評注》p.367
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: sepals
Pictograph of sepals of a flower. The modern meaning "no" is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pjuw | pə | not |
| pjuw | pə | 不律 writing brush (pron. in Wú 吳 ap. Shuōwén; E. Hàn) |
說文解字
《說文》：“不，鳥飛上翔不下來也。从一，一猶天也。象形。”
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)
Simplified
Original meaning: chopsticks
Simplified form of 著. 艹 represents the meaning and 者 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "chopsticks", now written as 箸. The modern meanings are phonetic loans.
Components
Alludes to bamboo chopsticks. 艹 and ⺮ (bamboo) were often used interchangeably with each other because of their visual and semantic similarity.
Change in form
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | |
|---|---|
| Unicode | djiɑk |
| djiɑk |
Sources
- Character origin
- Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
Traditional
Original meaning: chopsticks
Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 者 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "chopsticks", now written as 箸. The modern meanings are phonetic loans.
Components
Alludes to bamboo chopsticks. 艹 and ⺮ (bamboo) were often used interchangeably with each other because of their visual and semantic similarity.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Sound (0 of 1 verified)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | trjoH | t<r>ak-s | place (n.); visible |
| drjak | m-t<r>ak | put on clothes; be attached | |
| trjak | t<r>ak | to place |
Sources
- Character origin
- Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica