Original meaning: nose
Pictograph of a nose. Original form of 鼻 (nose). In China, when people point to themselves, they typically point to their nose.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dzijH | s.[b]i[t]-s | self (adv.) |
| dzijH | s.[b]i[t]-s | to follow; from |
說文解字
《說文》：“自，鼻也。象鼻形。，古文自。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.272
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Originally a small line or dot above a longer line, indicating "up". The vertical line was added to distinguish the character from 二 (two). Opposite of 下.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dzyangX | Cə-daŋʔ | ascend |
| dzyangX | m-daŋʔ | to put up | |
| dzyangH | daŋʔ-s | top, above (n.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“丄，高也。此古文上，指事也。上，篆文丄。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.44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)
Original meaning: beard
Originally a pictograph of a beard, now written as 耏. The current use as a conjunction is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | nyi | nə | and, but |
說文解字
《說文》：“而，頰毛也。象毛之形。《周禮》曰：‘作其鱗之而。’”
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)
Originally a small line or dot below a longer line, indicating "down". The vertical line was added to distinguish the character from 二 (two). Opposite of 上.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | haeX | gˤraʔ | down |
| haeH | m-gˤraʔ-s | descend |
說文解字
《說文》：“丅，底也。指事。下，篆文丅。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.47
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)