Phonosemantic compound. 王 and 吕 represent the meaning and 今 represents the sound. 王 depicts a metal axe and 吕 depicts two metal plates.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kim | k(r)[ə]m | metal, bronze |
說文解字
《說文》:“金,五色金也。黄為之長,久薶不生衣,百鍊不輕,从革不違。西方之行,生於土,从土,左右注象金在土中形,今聲。,古文金。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.925
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Originally a pictograph of a shield. The current form depicts a person (人) holding a shield.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dwonX | lˤu[n]ʔ | shield |
說文解字
《說文》:“盾,瞂也,所以扞身蔽目。象形。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫劉志基《中國漢字文物大系》Vol. 4, p.74
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Depicts a tool with a blade.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kuwng | kˤoŋ | officer |
| kuwng | kˤoŋ | work |
說文解字
《說文》:“工,巧飾也。象人有規榘也。與巫同意。,古文工从彡。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.381-382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)
Original meaning: unit of measurement
Phonosemantic compound. 禾 represents the meaning and 呈 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "unit of measurement". The meaning later shifted to "rule", "procedure", "sequence", and "journey".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | drjeng | (C.)lreŋ | Chéng (a surname) |
| drjeng | l<r>eŋ | rule, norm |
說文解字
《說文》:“程,品也。十髮為程,十程為分,十分為寸。从禾,呈聲。”
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)