Originally written as 無, which is a pictograph of a person dancing, with ox tails or bird feathers hanging from his arms, to pray for rain. The 舛 (two feet) component was later added to emphasize the action of dancing after 無 was phonetically borrowed for different meanings.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | mjuX | k.m(r)aʔ | dance (v.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“舞，樂也。用足相背。从舛，舞聲。，古文舞从羽、亡。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.472林志強《《文源》評注》p.203
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Combination of two trees (木).
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | lim | [r]əm | forest |
說文解字
《說文》：“林，平土有叢木曰林。从二木。”
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)
Pictograph of a tall building.
Components
口 Distinguishing component
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kaw | Cə.[k]ˤaw | high, tall |
說文解字
《說文》：“高，崇也，象臺觀高之形。从冂、口，與倉舍同意。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.448
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Pictograph of a hand.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | syuwX | n̥uʔ | hand |
說文解字
《說文》：“手，拳也。象形。，古文手。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.844
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)