Pictograph of a shirt or coat.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'j+j | ʔ(r)əj | clothes |
| 'j+jH | ʔ(r)əj-s | wear (v.t.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“衣，依也。上曰衣，下曰裳。象覆二人之形。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.663
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: varicolored cow
Phonosemantic compound. 牛 represents the meaning and 勿 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "variety", depicting the variety of colors on a cow. Later the meaning shifted to "things".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | mjut | C.mut | thing |
說文解字
《說文》：“物，萬物也。牛為大物，天地之數，起於牽牛，故从牛，勿聲。”
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)