秭归县
Zǐ​guī Xiàn

Zigui

秭 zǐ one thousand millions

Phonosemantic compound. 禾 represents the meaning and 𠂔 represents the sound.

Components

禾
禾 Meaning component
hé grain stalk
𠂔
𠂔 Sound component
zǐ to stop

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsijX[ts][i]jʔ a high number

說文解字

《說文》：“秭，五稯為秭。从禾，聲。一曰數億至萬曰秭。”

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)

归 guī return Simplified

Simplified form of 歸. Phonosemantic compound. 𠂤 represents the sound while 止 and 帚 represent the meaning.

Components

刂
刂 Simplified component
dāo knife

Shorthand for the 𠂤 component in the traditional character 歸.

彐
彐 Simplified component
jì snout

Shorthand for the 帚 component in the traditional character 歸.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

岿

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

县 xiàn county Simplified

Original meaning: suspend, hang

Simplified form of 縣. Pictograph of a severed head (首) hanging on a rope (系) from a tree (木). Based on the original meaning "hang" or "suspend". The current meaning is a phonetic loan. The traditional component 系 was removed for simplification.

Components

首
首 Iconic component
shǒu head

Depicts a severed head.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 首 than it was in ancient scripts.
木
木 Iconic component
mù tree
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 木 than it was in ancient scripts.
縣
系 Deleted component
xì, xi, jì system

Depicts a rope. The traditional component 系 was removed for simplification.

Component uses

Sound (1)

悬

Iconic (1)

悬

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

歸 guī return Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 𠂤 represents the sound while 止 and 帚 represent the meaning.

Components

𠂤
𠂤 Sound component
duī mound
止
止 Meaning component
zhǐ (foot), stop
帚
帚 Meaning component
zhou broom

Alludes to soldiers sweeping away enemies when returning home victoriously.

Character Evolution

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 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 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
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkjw+j[k]ʷəj return (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“歸，女嫁也。从止，从婦省，聲。，籀文，省。”

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)

縣 xiàn county Traditional

Original meaning: suspend, hang

Pictograph of a severed head (首) hanging on a rope (系) from a tree (木). Based on the original meaning "hang" or "suspend", now written as 懸. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

首
首 Iconic component
shǒu head

Depicts a severed head.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 首 than it was in ancient scripts.
木
木 Iconic component
mù tree
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 木 than it was in ancient scripts.
系
系 Iconic component
xì, xi, jì system

Depicts a rope.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 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 Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

懸

Iconic (1)

懸

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthwenHCə.[g]ʷˤe[n]-s district
hwen[g]ʷˤe[n] suspend

說文解字

《說文》：“縣，繫也。从系持。”

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)