bēi​zhe​bào​zhe​yī​bān​zhòng

equally heavy

bèi, bēi back

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of .

SoundMeaning component
běi north

also serves as a meaning component.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbwojHm-pˤək-s turn the back on
pwojHpˤək-s the back

說文解字

《說文》:“背,也。从肉,北聲。”

Sources

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

zhe, zháo, zhuó [progress particle] Simplified

Original meaning: chopsticks

Simplified form of . represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "chopsticks", now written as . The modern meanings are phonetic loans.

Components

cao, cǎo grass

Alludes to bamboo chopsticks. and ⺮ (bamboo) were often used interchangeably with each other because of their visual and semantic similarity.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Sound component
zhě one who...

Historical Pronunciations

Middle Chinese
Unicodedjiɑk
djiɑk

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

bào embrace

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

is a component form of .

SoundIconic component
bāo wrap

Depicts a person () hugging a child ().

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbawX[m-p]ˤuʔ carry in the arms

說文解字

《說文》:“捊,引取也。从手,孚聲。抱,捊或从包。”

Sources

one

A single horizontal stroke, representing the number one.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 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 Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (2 of 7 verified)

Unknown (2)

Distinguishing (1)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jitʔi[t] one

說文解字

《說文》:“一,惟初太始,道立於一,造分天地,化成萬物。弌,古文一。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

bān sort

Original meaning: tray

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "tray", now written as /. The current meaning is a phonetic loan. The original component was later corrupted to (boat).

Components

SoundIconic component
fán all

Pictograph of a tray. Later corrupted to .

Meaning component
shū weapon or tool

Depicts a hand holding a weapon or utensil.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 5 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpraːn
paːn
baːn

說文解字

《說文》:“般,辟也。象舟之旋,从舟,从殳。殳,所以旋也。,古文般从支。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

zhòng, chóng heavy

Pictograph of a person () carrying a heavy basket () on their back.

Components

Iconic component
rén person

is a component form of .

SoundIconic component
dōng east

Depicts a basket.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 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 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

Component uses

Sound (6 of 8 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdrjowng[m]-troŋ repeat; double
drjowngXN-t<r>oŋʔ heavy
drjowngHN-t<r>oŋʔ-s weight (n.)

說文解字

《說文》:“重,厚也。从壬,東聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.657-658漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

zhe, zháo, zhù [progress particle] Traditional

Original meaning: chopsticks

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "chopsticks", now written as . The modern meanings are phonetic loans.

Components

Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

Alludes to bamboo chopsticks. and ⺮ (bamboo) were often used interchangeably with each other because of their visual and semantic similarity.

Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "chopsticks", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
Sound component
zhě one who...

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttrjoHt<r>ak-s place (n.); visible
drjakm-t<r>ak put on clothes; be attached
trjakt<r>ak to place

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica