Jiǎ Píng​wā

Jia Pingwa

jiǎ, gǔ, jià merchant, trade Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

Sound component
cover
Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China, shells were used as currency.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

píng flat

Original meaning: to strike

Depicts using a staff () for striking. Based on the original meaning "to strike", now written as . The meaning later shifted to "level", "even", and "flat".

Components

Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts the moving motion of striking.

Iconic component
kǎo, qiǎo, yú axe handle

Depicts a staff.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (5 of 11 verified)

Meaning (1 of 3 verified)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjien[b]en distinguish; punctiious
bjaengbreŋ even (adj.)
bjaengm-breŋ make even

說文解字

《說文》:“平,語平舒也。从亏,从八。八,分也。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

āo concave

Pictograph of a concavity. Opposite of .

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangqriːw
qriːb

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

merchant, trade Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
cover
Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China, shells were used as currency.

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
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkuXC.qˤaʔ merchant; do business
kaeHC.qˤ<r>aʔ-s (or *mə.qˤ<r>aʔ-s?)price

說文解字

《說文》:“賈,賈市也。从貝,襾聲。一曰坐賣售也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica