Original meaning: bore a hole
Alludes to creating a hole (穴) with one's teeth (牙). Based on the original meaning "bore a hole". The meaning later expanded to "pass through" and "wear".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tsyhwen | tʰo[n] | bore through |
說文解字
《說文》：“穿，通也。从牙在穴中。”
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)
Pictograph of a mountain.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | srean | s-ŋrar | mountain, hill |
說文解字
《說文》：“山，宣也。宣气，生萬物，有石而高。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)
Origin unclear. Possibly depicts cracks on a shell or tree bark.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kaep | [k]ˤr[a]p | 1st heavenly stem; fingernail |
說文解字
《說文》：“甲，東方之孟，陽气萌動。从木戴孚甲之象。一曰人頭宜為甲，甲象人頭。，古文甲，始於十，見於千，成於木之象。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.957-958李学勤《字源》p.1270-1271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)