鸡蛋炒饭
jī​dàn​chǎo​fàn

egg fried rice

鸡 jī chickens Simplified

Simplified from a variant form of the traditional character 雞.

Components

又
又 Simplified component
yòu again

Shorthand form of the 奚 component in the traditional character 雞.

鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

蛋 dàn eggs

Phonosemantic compound. 虫 represents the meaning and 延 represents the sound.

Components

延
延 SoundRemnant component
yán delay
Change in sound
虫
虫 Meaning component
chóng bug, insect

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangl'aːns

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

炒 chǎo fry

Phonosemantic compound. 火 represents the meaning and 少 represents the sound.

Components

火
火 Meaning component
huǒ fire
少
少 Sound component
shǎo, shao, shào few

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsrhaewX[tsʰ](ˤ)r[e]wʔ to stir-fry

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

饭 fàn cooked rice Simplified

Simplified form of 飯. Phonosemantic compound. 饣 represents the meaning and 反 represents the sound.

Components

饣
饣 Meaning component
shí eat

饣 is a component form of 食.

反
反 Sound component
fǎn reverse

Sources

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

雞 jī chicken Traditional

Originally was a pictograph of a chicken. Later changed to a phonosemantic compound of 奚 and 隹 (bird).

Components

奚
奚 Sound component
xī where? what? how? why?
隹
隹 Meaning component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 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
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkejkˤe fowl, chicken

說文解字

《說文》：“雞，知時畜也。从隹，奚聲。鷄，籀文雞从鳥。”

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)

飯 fàn cooked rice Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 飠 represents the meaning and 反 represents the sound.

Components

飠
飠 Meaning component
eat

飠 is a component form of 食.

反
反 Sound component
fǎn reverse

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbjonXbo[n]ʔ eat
bjonHbo[n]ʔ-s cooked rice or millet

說文解字

《說文》：“飯，食也。从食，反聲。”

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)