鱼与熊掌不可兼得 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

yú fish Simplified

Simplified form of 魚. Pictograph of a fish.

Component uses

Sound (3 of 4 verified)

鲁渔稣蓟

Iconic (3)

鲁渔鲧

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

yǔ, yù and Simplified

Simplified form of 與. Phonosemantic compound. 舁 represents the meaning and 牙 represents the sound. The traditional component 舁 was removed for simplification.

Components

舁 Deleted component

yú to lift

The traditional component 舁 was removed for simplification.

牙 Sound component

yá tooth

Change in sound

与 and 牙 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
与 *m-q(r)aʔ
牙 *m-ɢˤ<r>a

Change in form

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

Character Evolution

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

屿欤

Simplified (1)

写

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	yoX	m-q(r)aʔ	give; for; and

說文解字

《說文》：“与，賜予也。一勺為与。此与與同。”

Sources

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

xióng a bear

Combination of 能 (bear) and 大 (big).

Components

能 Iconic component

néng to be able

Pictograph of a bear.

大 Iconic component

dà, dài big

Change in form

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

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

羆

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	hjuwng	C.[ɢ]ʷ(r)əm	bear (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“熊，獸，似豕，山居，冬蟄。从能，炎省聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.753
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

zhǎng, zhang palm of hand

Phonosemantic compound. 手 represents the meaning and 尚 represents the sound.

Components

尚 Sound component

shàng, shang esteem

手 Meaning component

shǒu, shou hand

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

撑

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsyangX	[k.t]aŋʔ	palm of the hand

說文解字

《說文》：“掌，手中也。从手，尚聲。”

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)

bù, bu no

Original meaning: sepals

Pictograph of sepals of a flower. The modern meaning "no" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	pjuw	pə	not
	pjuw	pə	不律 writing brush (pron. in Wú 吳 ap. Shuōwén; E. Hàn)

說文解字

《說文》：“不，鳥飛上翔不下來也。从一，一猶天也。象形。”

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)

kě able to

Original meaning: sing

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and a pictograph of an axe handle (丂) which is now written as 柯 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "sing", now written as 歌. The current meaning "able to" is a phonetic loan.

Components

口 Meaning component

kǒu, kou mouth

Change in meaning

口 hints at the original meaning of 可, "sing", which is no longer the most common meaning of 可 in modern Mandarin.

丂 Sound Iconic component

kǎo, qiǎo, yú axe handle

Depicts an axe handle.

Change in sound

可 and 丂 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
可 khaX
丂 khawX

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (6 of 20 verified)

何阿奇河哥呵柯苛珂诃轲坷舸岢疴哿蚵钶軻訶

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

珂

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khaX	[k]ʰˤa[j]ʔ	may; acceptable

說文解字

《說文》：“可，肎也。从口、丂，丂亦聲。”

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)

jiān double

Depicts a hand (又) holding two stalks of grain (禾).

Components

禾 Iconic component

hé grain stalk

Change in form

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

禾 Iconic component

hé grain stalk

Change in form

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

又 Iconic component

yòu hand

Depicts a hand.

Change in form

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

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (6 of 13 verified)

廉嫌歉赚谦慊缣鹣蒹搛賺謙鶼

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

搛

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kem	[k]ˤem	combine; at the same time

說文解字

《說文》：“兼，并也。从又持秝。兼，持二禾。秉，持一禾。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫裘錫圭 "Chinese Writing" p.188
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

de, dé, děi obtain

Depicts a hand (寸) grabbing a shell (貝), used as currency in ancient China, to convey the meaning "get". Originally written as 㝵. The 彳 (movement) component was added later.