窃国者侯，窃钩者诛
qiè​guó​zhě​hóu, qiè​gōu​zhě​zhū

unequal justice

窃 qiè secretly Simplified

Original meaning: to steal rice

Phonosemantic compound. 穴 represents the meaning and 切 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "to steal rice". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "secretly". Simplified form of 竊.

Components

穴
穴 Meaning component
xué, jué cave
切
切 Sound component
qiè, qiē cut

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

国 guó nation Simplified

Simplified form of 國. Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 或 represents the sound.

Components

囗
囗 Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
玉
玉 SoundSimplified component
yù jade

Shorthand for the 或 component in the traditional character 國.

Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

帼蝈掴

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

者 zhě one who...

Original meaning: paper mulberry

Pictograph of a tree with paper mulberry leaves, now written as 楮. The distinguishing mark 口 was added later. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a tree with paper mulberry leaves. Original form of 楮.

口
口 Distinguishing component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
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
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 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (14 of 28 verified)

着都书著诸署绪猪赌屠堵睹煮奢暑褚赭渚箸锗楮翥諸豬緒書賭啫

Simplified (1)

书

Iconic (1)

楮

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyaeXtAʔ (nominalizing particle)

說文解字

《說文》：“者，別事詞也。从白，聲。，古文旅字。”

Sources

Character origin
林志強《《文源》評注》p.524-525李学勤《字源》p.290
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

侯 hóu, hòu marquis

Original meaning: target (archery)

Pictograph of an arrow (矢) hitting a target. Based on the original meaning "target (archery)". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "marquis", likely because archery was associated with people of high ranking.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a target.

矢
矢 Iconic component
shǐ arrow

Character Evolution

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
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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 7 verified)

喉猴糇缑篌堠瘊

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthuw[g]ˤ(r)o feudal lord

說文解字

《說文》：“矦，春饗所矦也。从人，从厂，象張布，矢在其下。”

Sources

Character origin
zi.toolsChinaKnowledge.de季旭昇《說文新證》p.447
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

钩 gōu hook Simplified

A metal 钅 hook 勾; 勾 also provides the pronunciation

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal
勾
勾 SoundMeaning component
gōu hook

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

诛 zhū execute Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 讠 represents the meaning and 朱 represents the sound. Simplified form of 誅.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

朱
朱 Sound component
zhū, shū red pigment

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

竊 qiè secretly Traditional

Original meaning: to steal rice

Phonosemantic compound. 穴 represents the meaning and 䊪 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "to steal rice". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "secretly".

Components

穴
穴 Meaning component
xué, jué cave
䊪
䊪 SoundMeaning component
lì unpolished rice

Character Evolution

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
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-Sagarttshet[tsʰ]ˤet steal

說文解字

《說文》：“竊，盜自中出曰竊。从穴、从米，、廿皆聲。廿，古文疾；，古文偰。”

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.648季旭昇《說文新證》p.580-581
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

國 guó nation Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 或 represents the sound.

Components

囗
囗 Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
或
或 Sound component
huò or

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

膕幗蟈摑

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwok[C.q]ʷˤək state (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“國，邦也。从囗，从或。”

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)

鉤 gōu hook Traditional

A metal 釒 hook 句; 句 also provides the pronunciation

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal
句
句 SoundMeaning component
jù sentence

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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-Sagartkuw[kˤ](r)ohook
Zhengzhangkoː
Unicodegou

說文解字

曲也。从金从句，句亦聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

誅 execute Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 朱 represents the sound.

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
朱
朱 Sound component
zhū, shū red pigment

Character Evolution

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttrjutropunish; kill
Zhengzhangto
Unicodedjio

說文解字

討也。从言朱聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)