阿灵顿国家公墓 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

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 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 Sound component

kě able to

Change in sound

阿 and 可 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
阿 *qˤa[j]
可 *[k]ʰˤa[j]ʔ

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1 of 6 verified)

啊婀锕屙痾錒

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	'a	qˤa[j]	slope, river bank
	'a	ʔˤa (< *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)

líng, ling spirit Simplified

Simplified form of 靈. Phonosemantic compound. 巫 represents the meaning and 霝 represents the sound.

Components

彐 Simplified component

jì snout

Shorthand for the 霝 component in the traditional character 靈.

火 Simplified component

huǒ fire

Shorthand for the 巫 component in the traditional character 靈.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

棂

Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	reːŋ

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang

dùn to bow, pause Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 页 represents the meaning and 屯 represents the sound. Simplified form of 頓.

Components

屯 Sound component

tún, zhūn village

页 Meaning component

yè page

Depicts bowing the head.

Sources

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

guó nation Simplified

Simplified form of 國. Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 或 represents the sound.

Components

囗 Meaning component

wéi, guó surround

玉 Sound Simplified component

yù jade

Shorthand for the 或 component in the traditional character 國.

Change in sound

国 and 玉 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
国 *[C.q]ʷˤək
玉 *[ŋ](r)ok (< uvular?)

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

帼蝈掴

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

jiā, jia house

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and a remnant of 豭 represents the sound.

Components

宀 Meaning component

mián roof

豭 Sound Remnant component

jiā boar

Left half of 豭 (boar).

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

嫁稼镓傢

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kae	kˤra	household

說文解字

《說文》：“家，居也。从宀，豭省聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.589-590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)

gōng public

Original meaning: earthen jar

Pictograph of a earthen jar for holding liquid, now written as 瓮. The current meaning "public" is a phonetic loan.

Components

八 Iconic component

bā eight

Depicts handles of a jar.

口 Iconic component

kǒu, kou mouth

Depicts the opening of a jar.

Change in form

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

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (5 of 14 verified)

容松讼翁颂瓮蚣衮忪袞頌訟鈆彸

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kuwng	C.qˤoŋ	impartial, just; public
	kuwng	C.qˤoŋ	father; prince

說文解字

《說文》：“公，平分也。从八、从厶。八，猶背也。韓非曰：‘背厶為公’。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.86-87
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

mù grave

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 莫 represents the sound.

Components

土 Meaning component

tǔ earth

莫 Sound component

mò, mo do not

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	muH	C.mˤak-s	grave (n.)
Zhengzhang		maːɡs
Unicode	mò

說文解字

丘也。从土莫聲。

Sources

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

líng, ling spirit Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 巫 represents the meaning and 霝 represents the sound.

Components

霝 Sound component

líng drops of rain

巫 Meaning component

wū wizard, shaman

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

欞

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	leng	[r]ˤeŋ	supernatural

說文解字

《說文》：“，靈巫，以玉事神。从玉，霝聲。靈，或从巫。”

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)

dùn to bow, pause Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 頁 represents the meaning and 屯 represents the sound.

Components

屯 Sound component

tún, zhūn village

頁 Meaning component

yè (head), page

Depicts bowing the head.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

噸

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang		tuːns
Unicode	duə̀n

說文解字

《說文》：“頓，下首也。从頁，屯聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

guó nation Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 或 represents the sound.

Components

囗 Meaning component

wéi, guó surround

或 Sound component

huò or

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

膕幗蟈摑

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kwok	[C.q]ʷˤək	state (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“國，邦也。从囗，从或。”

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)

阿 ā name prefix

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (1 of 6 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

灵 líng, ling spirit Simplified

Components

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

顿 dùn to bow, pause Simplified

Components

Sources

国 guó nation Simplified

Components

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

家 jiā, jia house

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

公 gōng public

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (5 of 14 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

墓 mù grave

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

靈 líng, ling spirit Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

頓 dùn to bow, pause Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

國 guó nation Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

ā name prefix

líng, ling spirit Simplified

dùn to bow, pause Simplified

guó nation Simplified

jiā, jia house

gōng public

mù grave

líng, ling spirit Traditional

dùn to bow, pause Traditional

guó nation Traditional