羽状复叶
yǔ​zhuàng​fù​yè

pinnate leaf

羽 yǔ feather

Pictograph of feathers.

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 Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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

Meaning (2 of 22 verified)

翻翼翰扇翅翁翠翔翘榻翩翎翡翱翊翦羿翳翕翥翮翹

Unknown (0 of 6 verified)

塌蹋鳎遢溻褟

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

栩诩詡

Iconic (1)

翟

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthjuX[ɢ]ʷ(r)aʔ feather, wing

說文解字

《說文》：“羽，鳥長毛也。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)

状 zhuàng form, shape Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 犬 represents the meaning and 丬 represents the sound. Simplified form of 狀.

Components

丬
丬 Sound component
qiáng piece of wood

丬 is a component form of 爿.

犬
犬 Meaning component
quǎn dog

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

复 fù return Simplified

Pictograph of a foot entering or exiting a building, representing the meaning "to return".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts some sort of enclosed building.

夂
夂 Iconic component
zhǐ, zhōng go

夂 is a component form of 止. Depicts a foot.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 7 verified)

腹蝮愎馥複鳆復

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

愎復

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjuwkm-p(r)uk return

說文解字

《說文》：“，行故道也。从夊，畗省聲。”

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)

叶 yè be in harmony, leaf Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 十 represents the sound. Originally a variant of 協 (cooperate). Later used as the simplified form of the phonetically similar character 葉 (leaf).

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth

Based on the meaning "cooperate", "be in harmony". Unrelated to "leaf".

十
十 Sound component
shí ten
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin
Wiktionary
Readings & variants
Unicode

狀 zhuàng form, shape Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 犬 represents the meaning and 爿 represents the sound.

Components

爿
爿 Sound component
pán, qiáng piece of wood
犬
犬 Meaning component
quǎn dog

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzrjangH[dz]raŋ-s form, appearance

說文解字

《說文》：“狀，犬形也。从犬，爿聲。”

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)

複 fù double, lined (garment) Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 衤 represents the meaning and 复 represents the sound.

Components

衤
衤 Meaning component
yī clothes

衤 is a component form of 衣.

复
复 Sound component
fù return

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjuwkp(r)uk double, lined (garment)

說文解字

《說文》：“複，重衣也。从衣，复聲。一曰褚衣。”

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)

葉 yè leaf Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 枼 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

枼
枼 SoundMeaning component
yè leaf

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyepl[a]p leaf

說文解字

《說文》：“葉，艸木之葉也。从艸，枼聲。”

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)