yí​yòng

repurpose

move, change place

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Alludes to grain moving while it is blown by the wind.

Components

Meaning component
grain stalk
Sound component
duō much
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyelaj move (v.)

說文解字

《說文》:“移,禾相倚移也。从禾,多聲。一曰禾名。”

Sources

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

yòng, yong use

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

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 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 (2 of 6 verified)

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartyowngHloŋ-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