食荼卧棘
shí​tú​wò​jí

endure hardships

食 shí, shi eat

Depicts a mouth (亼) eating from a food vessel (皀).

Components

亼
亼 Iconic component
jí (upside-down mouth), to assemble

Depicts an upside-down mouth.

皀
皀 Iconic component
jí, bī, xiāng one grain

Depicts a food vessel.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 皀 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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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

Meaning (4 of 11 verified)

餐饕飧飨饔餍餮養饜飬饗

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartzyikmə-lək eat
ziHs-m-lək-s feed (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“食，一米也。从皀，亼聲。或說亼皀也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.435-436
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

荼 tú, chá, yé bitter vegetable

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 余 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

余
余 Sound component
yú I
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdraelˤra (name of a plant)

說文解字

《說文》：“荼，苦荼也。从艸，余聲。”

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)

卧 wò lie down Simplified

Variant form of 臥. Depicts a person (人) with their eye (臣) leaning forward preparing to lie down and sleep.

Components

臣
臣 Iconic component
chén minister

Depicts an eye.

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person

Current form looks like 卜.

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

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

棘 jí jujube tree

Phonosemantic compound. 朿 represents the meaning and 朿 represents the sound.

Components

朿
朿 Meaning component
cì thorn, stab
朿
朿 Sound component
cì thorn, stab

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkikkrəkthorns
Zhengzhangkrɯɡ
Unicodegiək

說文解字

小棗叢生者。从並朿。

Sources

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

臥 wò lie down Traditional

Depicts a person (人) with their eye (臣) leaning forward preparing to lie down and sleep.

Components

臣
臣 Iconic component
chén minister

Depicts an eye.

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person

Character Evolution

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngwaH[ŋ]ˤ[o]j-s lie down, sleep

說文解字

《說文》：“臥，休也。从人、臣，取其伏也。”

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)