Original meaning: elder sister
Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 台 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "elder sister", now written as 姒. The meaning later shifted to "first" and "start".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | syiX | l̥əʔ | begin |
說文解字
《說文》:“始,女之初也。从女,台聲。”
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)
Simplified
Components
說文解字
龜名。从龜夂聲。夂,古文終字。
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Depicts a string of shells (貝), which were used as currency in ancient China.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kwan | kˤo[n] | pass through the center |
| kwanH | kˤon-s | pass through the center |
說文解字
《說文》:“貫,錢貝之貫。从毌、貝。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.593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)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | drjet | m-[tʰ]ret | penetrate |
| drjet | m-tʰret | divide land acc. to a certain share system | |
| trhjet | tʰret | divide land acc. to a certain share system | |
| trhjet | tʰret | penetrate |
說文解字
《說文》:“徹,通也。从彳,从攴,从育。,古文徹。”
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)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tsyuwng | tuŋ | end |
說文解字
《說文》:“終,絿絲也。从糸,冬聲。,古文終。”
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)