Pictograph of the head of a sheep with horns.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | yang | ɢaŋ | sheep |
說文解字
《說文》：“羊，祥也。从，象頭角足尾之形。孔子曰：牛羊之字，以形舉也。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.298
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Depicts the flow of water in a river.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | sywijX | s.turʔ (E dialect: *-r > *-j) | water; river |
說文解字
《說文》：“水，準也。北方之行。象眾水並流，中有微陽之气也。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.795
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
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)
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tshjeH | [tsʰ]ek-s | sharp point, thorn |
| tshjek | [tsʰ]ek | pierce, stab |
說文解字
《說文》：“刺，君殺大夫曰刺。刺，直傷也。从刀，从朿，朿亦聲。”
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)