sī​qǐ

private enterprise

private

Original meaning: grain

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "grain". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Meaning component
grain stalk
SoundMeaning component
sī, mǒu private, selfish

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsij[s]əj private

說文解字

《說文》:“私,禾也。从禾,厶聲。北道名禾主人曰私主人。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

plan a project, stand on tiptoe

Depicts a person () standing on their feet ().

Components

Iconic component
rén, ren person
Iconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhjieXkʰeʔ stand on tiptoe
khjieHkʰeʔ-s stand on tiptoe

說文解字

《說文》:“企,舉踵也。从人,止聲。,古文企从足。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica