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
口 Distinguishing component
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tsyaeX | tAʔ | (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)
Traditional
Depicts a utensil for writing (聿) made from bamboo (⺮).
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pit | p.[r]ut (borrowed as *prut from Qín dialect) | writing brush |
說文解字
《說文》：“筆，秦謂之筆。从聿，从竹。”
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)