Simplified
Phonosemantic compound. 虫 represents the meaning and 它 represents the sound. Originally written as 它.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | zyae | Cə.lAj | snake |
| ye | laj | 委蛇 compliant, complacent |
說文解字
《說文》：“它，虫也。从虫而長，象冤曲垂尾形。上古艸居患它，故相問無它乎。蛇，它或从虫。”
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)
Traditional
Original meaning: tasty
Depicts a fish (魚) inside the mouth (甘). Based on the original meaning "tasty". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | luX | [r]ˤaʔ | dull, blunt, simple |
| luX | r.ŋˤaʔ (dialect > *rŋˤ- > *rˤ- > MC l-) | (place name) |
說文解字
《說文》：“魯，鈍詞也。从白，鮺省聲。《論語》曰：‘參也魯。’”
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)