Original meaning: to fall (rain/snow)
Phonosemantic compound. 雨 represents the meaning and 令 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "to fall (of rain/snow)". The meaning later shifted to "scattered", "fraction", and "zero".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | leng | [r]ˤiŋ | fall (v., of rain) |
說文解字
《說文》：“零，餘雨也。从雨，令聲。”
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
Original meaning: untangle threads
Simplified form of 亂. Originally written as 𤔔, which depicts two hands (𠬪) untangling threads (幺) on a silk frame. 乚 was later added as a distinguishing mark. The meaning later shifted to "mess" and "confusion".
Components
Shorthand for the 𤔔 component in the traditional character 亂.
Traditional
Original meaning: untangle threads
Originally written as 𤔔, which depicts two hands (𠬪) untangling threads (幺) on a silk frame. 乚 was later added as a distinguishing mark. The meaning later shifted to "mess" and "confusion".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | lwanH | [r]ˤo[n]-s | disorder, rebellion |
說文解字
《說文》：“亂，治也。从乙。乙，治之也。从。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.960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)