空中接力
kōng​zhōng​jiē​lì

alley-oop

空 kōng, kòng empty

Phonosemantic compound. 穴 represents the meaning and 工 represents the sound.

Components

穴
穴 Meaning component
xué, jué cave
工
工 Sound component
gōng work

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 of 6 verified)

控腔崆倥箜焢

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhuwngkʰˤoŋ hollow, empty; hole
khuwngXkʰˤoŋʔ hollow, empty; hole

說文解字

《說文》：“空，竅也。从穴，工聲。”

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)

中 zhōng, zhòng central

Depicts a flagpole. There is a circle in the middle marking the center of the flagpole. In older forms of the character, the flagpole has streamers at the top and bottom used to show the direction of the wind.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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
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 (4 of 11 verified)

种冲钟忠仲肿衷忡盅舯沖

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

仲衷

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttrjuwngtruŋ center
trjuwngHtruŋ-s hit the center

說文解字

《說文》：“中，內也。从口、丨，上下通。，古文中。，籀文中。”

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)

接 jiē receive

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 妾 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

妾
妾 Sound component
qiè concubine

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsjep[ts][a]p connect

說文解字

《說文》：“接，交也。从手，妾聲。”

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)

力 lì, li power

Pictograph of a plow, which requires strength to operate.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (24 of 47 verified)

动加务办功势男助劳努勇劲励勃劝勤幼劫勉勋勘募劾饬夯勖劭劬勐劢辦飭勞劦勢務勛勦勸勵劼劵勝勁勈動勳

Sound (4 of 9 verified)

历勒励劣肋仂阞勵艻

Simplified (3 of 5 verified)

边伤穷胁虏

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlikk.rək strength

說文解字

《說文》：“力，筋也。象人筋之形。治功曰力，能圉大災。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.918-919
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)