Depicts the outline of a face, with an eye (目) in the middle. In simplified Chinese 面 is also used to mean "noodles", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 麵.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | mjienH | C.me[n]-s | face |
說文解字
《說文》:“面,顏前也。从,象人面形。”
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
Depicts a mouth (口) in a closed space (宀) making an echo sound. Based on the original meaning "echo; sound", now written as 響. The meaning later shifted to "direction" and "toward".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | xjangH | n̥aŋ-s | window facing North; turn towards |
說文解字
《說文》:“向,北出牖也。从宀,从口。”
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
Pictograph of an elephant.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | zjangX | s.[d]aŋʔ | elephant |
說文解字
《說文》:“象,長鼻牙,南越大獸,三年一乳。象耳牙四足之形。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.740
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Pictograph of a tongue (舌) sticking out of a mouth. In old scripts 言 was written the same as 舌 but with an extra line.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ngjon | ŋa[n] | (a particle) |
| ngjon | ŋa[n] | I, we | |
| ngjon | ŋa[n] | speak; speech | |
| ngjon | ŋa[r] | tall |
說文解字
《說文》:“言,直言曰言,論難曰語。从口,聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.160
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Components
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | xjangH | qʰaŋ-s | to face, approach |
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
Traditional
Original meaning: develop land
Depicts a hand (寸) holding a farming tool (丵) to develop land (土). Based on the original meaning "develop land".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Sound (0 of 1 verified)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | twojH | [t]ˤ[u]p-s | respond |
說文解字
《說文》:“,譍無方也。从丵,从口,从寸。對,或从土。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.169-171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)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ngjoX | ŋ(r)aʔ | speak |
| ngjoH | ŋ(r)aʔ-s | tell |
說文解字
《說文》:“語,論也。从言,吾聲。”
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)