自我意识
zì​wǒ​yì​shí

self-awareness

自 zì (nose), self

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

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (5)

息鼻牵牽𰄩

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

瘪憩洎邊癟

Meaning (3 of 4 verified)

咱臭戛辠

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzijHs.[b]i[t]-s self (adv.)
dzijHs.[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)

我 wǒ I; me

Original meaning: weapon

Pictograph of a weapon with a forked blade and long handle. The meaning "I; me" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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
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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (6 of 15 verified)

义俄饿哦鹅娥峨蛾硪莪義锇餓鵝皒

Simplified (1)

义

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngaXŋˤajʔ we, I

說文解字

《說文》：“我，施身自謂也。或說我，頃頓也。从戈，从。，或說古垂字。一曰古殺字。，古文我。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.867
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

意 yì, yi thought

Thought (意) is the sound (音) that comes from the mind (心). (Oversimplified for brevity. The 音 component in this character has a complicated history.)

Components

音
音 Meaning component
yīn sound
心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (2 of 7 verified)

臆噫薏癔镱憶億

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

臆

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'iHʔ(r)ək-s thought (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“意，志也。从心察言而知意也。从心，从音。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.790-791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)

识 shi, shí recognize Simplified

Simplified from 識. Phonosemantic compound. 讠 represents the meaning and 只 represents the sound.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

只
只 Sound component
zhǐ, zhī only

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

識 shi, shí recognize Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 戠 represents the sound.

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
戠
戠 Sound component
zhī, zhí to gather

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsyiks-tək know
tsyiHtək-s remember, commemorate

說文解字

《說文》：“識，常也。一曰知也。从言，戠聲。”

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)