阿勒泰市
ā​lè​tài​shì

Altay City

阿 ā name prefix

Original meaning: hillside

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 可 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "hillside". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

Change in meaning
阝 hints at the original meaning of 阿, "hillside", which is no longer the most common meaning of 阿 in modern Mandarin.
可
可 Sound component
kě able to
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 6 verified)

啊婀锕屙痾錒

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'aqˤa[j] slope, river bank
'aʔˤa (< *qˤaj)阿會亘 ēhuìxuān: Skt. ābhāsvara “shining” (E. Hàn)

說文解字

大陵也。一曰曲𨸏也。从𨸏可聲。

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)

勒 lēi bridle, rein in, strangle

Phonosemantic compound. 革 represents the meaning and 力 represents the sound.

Components

革
革 Meaning component
gé leather
力
力 Sound component
lì, li power

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

嘞鳓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlok[r]ˤək engrave
lok[r]ˤək bridle

說文解字

《說文》：“勒，馬頭絡銜也。从革，力聲。”

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)

泰 tài great

Original meaning: to slip

Depicts seizing a liquid (水) with hands (廾). 大 represents the sound. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

大
大 Sound component
dà, dài big
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 大 than it was in ancient scripts.
廾
廾 Iconic component
gǒng two hands
水
水 Iconic component
shuǐ water

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

傣

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartthajHl̥ˤa[t]-s great

說文解字

《說文》：“泰，滑也。从廾，从水，大聲。夳，古文泰。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

市 shì market

Origin unclear. 止 represents the sound.

Components

止
止 Sound component
zhǐ (foot), stop
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 止 than it was in ancient scripts.
兮
兮 Unknown component
xī exclamatory particle

The original purpose of this component is unclear.

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

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (2)

闹鬧

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

柿铈

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzyiXC.[d]əʔ market (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“市，買賣所之也。市有垣，从冂，从乁。乁，古文及，象物相及也。之省聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.499-450
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)