肃然起敬
sù​rán​qǐ​jìng

revere

肃 sù pay respects Simplified

Original meaning: to tremble with fear

Simplified form of 肅. Depicts a hand holding a bamboo stick (聿) walking on the edge of an abyss (𣶒). Based on the original meaning "to tremble with fear". The meaning later shifted to "solemn" and "pay respects".

Components

聿
聿 IconicRemnant component
yù writing brush

Used here to depict a hand holding a bamboo stick.

𣶒
𣶒 IconicSimplified component
yuān deep pool

Depicts a deep pool filled with water.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

萧啸箫骕鹔

Sources

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

然 rán, ran yes

Original meaning: burn

Phonosemantic compound. 灬 represents the meaning and 肰 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "burn", now written as 燃. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

灬
灬 Meaning component
biāo, huǒ fire

灬 is a component form of 火.

肰
肰 Sound component
rán dog meat

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

燃

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnyen[n]a[n] so, thus; (adv suffix)

說文解字

《說文》：“然，燒也。从火，肰聲。，或从艸、難。”

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)

起 qǐ go up

Phonosemantic compound. 走 represents the meaning and 己 represents the sound.

Components

走
走 Meaning component
zǒu walk
己
己 Sound component
jǐ self

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 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhiXC.qʰ(r)əʔ rise (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“起，能立也。从走，巳聲。，古文起，从辵。”

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)

敬 jìng respect

Phonosemantic compound. 茍 represents the sound and 攵 represents the meaning.

Components

茍
茍 SoundMeaning component
jì, jí to be circumspect
攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 5 verified)

警擎儆檠驚

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkjaengHkreŋ(ʔ)-s respectful

說文解字

《說文》：“敬，肅也。从攴、茍。”

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)

肅 sù pay respects Traditional

Original meaning: to tremble with fear

Depicts a hand holding a bamboo stick (聿) walking on the edge of an abyss (𣶒). Based on the original meaning "to tremble with fear". The meaning later shifted to "solemn" and "pay respects".

Components

聿
聿 IconicRemnant component
yù writing brush

Used here to depict a hand holding a bamboo stick.

𣶒
𣶒 Iconic component
yuān deep pool

Depicts a deep pool filled with water.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

驌鷫簫鏽嘯繡

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

蕭

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsjuwksiwk solemn, severe
sjuwksiwk contract (v.); shrivel
sjuwksiwk present (v.)
sjuwksiwk beat (v.)
sjuwksiwk eager; swift

說文解字

《說文》：“肅，持事振敬也。从在上，戰戰兢兢也。，古文肅。从心，从卪。”

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)