Original meaning: bear
Pictograph of a bear. Based on the original meaning "bear". The meaning of this character has shifted over time to mean "strong" and "ability, power". Original form of 熊.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | noj | nˤə | a kind of bear |
| nong | nˤə(ŋ) | a kind of bear | |
| nong | nˤə(ʔ) (~ *nˤəŋ) | able; ability |
說文解字
《說文》：“能，熊屬，足似鹿。从肉，聲。能獸堅中，故稱賢能，而彊壯稱能傑也。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.752
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Originally the same character as 不. Distinguishing component 口 was added later to the character when it took on the meaning "not". 不 represents the sound.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | pjuwX | pəʔ | not |
說文解字
《說文》：“否，不也。从口，从不，不亦聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.94-95
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)