Zhú Kě​zhēn

Zhu Kezhen

zhú, dǔ India

A kind  of bamboo ⺮; ⺮ also provides the pronunciation

Components

SoundMeaning component
zhú bamboo
Meaning component
èr two

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangtuːɡ
tuːɡ
tuɡ

說文解字

厚也。从二竹聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

able to

Original meaning: sing

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and a pictograph of an axe handle () which is now written as represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "sing", now written as . The current meaning "able to" is a phonetic loan.

Components

Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "sing", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
SoundIconic component
kǎo, qiǎo, yú axe handle

Depicts an axe handle.

Change in sound

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhaX[k]ʰˤa[j]ʔ may; acceptable

說文解字

《說文》:“可,肎也。从口、丂,丂亦聲。”

Sources

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

zhēn hardwood Simplified

Components

Meaning component
tree

tree

Sound component
zhēn, zhēng virtuous

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

hardwood Traditional

Components

Meaning component
tree

tree

Sound component
virtuous

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangteŋ

說文解字

剛木也。从木貞聲。上郡有楨林縣。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica