音乐之声
Yīn​yuè​zhī​shēng

Sound of Music

音 yīn sound

Originally the same as 言 (speech) but with an extra line added in the mouth (口) to distinguish the two characters.

Components

言
言 Iconic component
yán speech

Depicts a tongue sticking out of the mouth.

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

Mark to distinguish 音 from 言.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

暗黯谙歆喑窨揞諳

Meaning (2 of 5 verified)

意韵韶響韻

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'im[q](r)əm sound, tone

說文解字

《說文》：“音，聲也。生於心有節於外謂之音；宮商角徵羽聲；絲竹金石匏土革木音也。从言，含一。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.164-165
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

乐 lè, yuè happy, music Simplified

Pictograph of an ancient wooden stringed musical instrument. The simplified character 乐 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 樂.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

砾栎跞铄泺轹

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

烁

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

之 zhī [attributive particle]

Original meaning: go forwards

Pictograph of a foot (止) going out of an area. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

止
止 SoundIconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 止 than it was in ancient scripts.
一
一 Iconic component
yī one

Used here to depict an area.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Qin 221-206 BC
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

志寺芝

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyitə go to
tsyitə (3p object pronoun; attributive particle)

說文解字

《說文》：“之，出也。象艸過屮，枝莖益大有所之。一者，地也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.498-499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)

声 shēng, sheng sound Simplified

Remnant of the character 殸 (stone chimes). Depicts a musical stone chime hung up on a rope. Simplified form of 聲.

Components

糸
糸 Iconic component
mì, sī silk

Depicts a rope. Modern form looks like unrelated 士.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 糸 than it was in ancient scripts.
石
石 Iconic component
shí stone
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 石 than it was in ancient scripts.

Component uses

Iconic (2)

磬殸

Sources

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

樂 lè, yuè happy, music Traditional

Depicts an ancient wooden stringed musical instrument. 白 represents the sound.

Components

幺
幺 Iconic component
yāo tiny

Depicts a string.

白
白 Sound component
bái, bai white
Change in sound
幺
幺 Iconic component
yāo tiny

Depicts a string.

木
木 Iconic component
mù tree

Depicts the wooden base of a musical instrument.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

藥櫟瓅鑠

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

爍

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlak[r]ˤawk to cure
lak[r]ˤawk joy; enjoy
ngaewH[ŋ]ˤrawk-s cause to rejoice
ngaewk[ŋ]ˤrawk music

說文解字

《說文》：“樂，五聲八音緫名。象鼓鞞。木，虡也。”

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)

聲 shēng, sheng sound Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 耳 represents the meaning and 殸 represents the sound.

Components

耳
耳 Meaning component
ěr ear
殸
殸 Sound component
qìng, kēng, shēng stone chimes
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsyeng[l̥]eŋ sound (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“聲，音也。从耳，殸聲。殸，籀文磬。”

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)