自贻伊戚
zì​yí​yī​qī

self-inflicted trouble

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)

贻 yí give to Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 贝 represents the meaning and 台 represents the sound. Simplified form of 貽.

Components

贝
贝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell
台
台 Sound component
tái platform

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

伊 yī third person pronoun

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 尹 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

尹
尹 Sound component
yǐn, yún govern

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

咿蛜

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jijʔij this

說文解字

《說文》：“伊，殷聖人阿衡，尹治天下者。从人，从尹。”

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)

戚 qi battle-axe, sorrow, grief, relative

Pictograph of a battle axe having spiked teeth on its blade.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 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 (0 of 3 verified)

嘁槭慼

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

蹙慼

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsheks.tʰˤiwk (in 'toad')
tsheks.tʰˤiwk relatives
tsheks.tʰˤiwk kind of battle axe
tsheks.tʰˤiwk worried; sad; depressed

說文解字

《說文》：“戚，戉也。从戉，尗聲。”

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)

貽 give to Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 台 represents the sound.

Components

貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell
台
台 Sound component
tái platform

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyiləto present, give
Zhengzhanglɯ
Unicodeiə

說文解字

贈遺也。从貝台聲。經典通用詒。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)