鸳鸯戏水
yuān​yāng​xì​shuǐ

make love

鸳 yuān male mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鸟 represents the meaning and 夗 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鴛.

Components

鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird
夗
夗 Sound component
yuàn, wǎn, wān to turn over when asleep

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

鸯 yāng female mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鸟 represents the meaning and 央 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鴦.

Components

鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird
央
央 Sound component
yāng beg

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

戏 xì play Simplified

Original meaning: military troops outside the main group

Simplified form of 戲. Phonosemantic compound. 戈 represents the meaning and 䖒 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "military troops outside the main group". The meaning later shifted to "sport" and "play".

Components

又
又 Simplified component
yòu again

Shorthand for the 䖒 component in the traditional character 戲.

戈
戈 Meaning component
gē spear
Change in meaning
戈 hints at the original meaning of 戏, "military troops outside the main group", which is no longer the most common meaning of 戏 in modern Mandarin.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

水 shuǐ water

Depicts the flow of water in a river.

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (4 of 14 verified)

冰浆汞泵颍滕淼荥凼氽汆滎氹漿

Iconic (8)

益泰泉尿沓盥彔眔

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsywijXs.turʔ (E dialect: *-r > *-j)water; river

說文解字

《說文》：“水，準也。北方之行。象眾水並流，中有微陽之气也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.795
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

鴛 male mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 夗 represents the sound.

Components

鳥
鳥 Meaning component
niǎo bird
夗
夗 Sound component
yuàn, wǎn, wān to turn over when asleep

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangquːn
qon
Unicodeqiuæn

說文解字

鴛鴦也。从鳥夗聲。

Sources

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

鴦 female mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 央 represents the sound.

Components

鳥
鳥 Meaning component
niǎo bird
央
央 Sound component
yāng beg

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartʔjangʔaŋfemale mandarin duck
Zhengzhangqaːŋ
qaŋ
Unicodeqiɑng

說文解字

鴛鴦也。从鳥央聲。

Sources

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

戲 xì play Traditional

Original meaning: military troops outside the main group

Phonosemantic compound. 戈 represents the meaning and 䖒 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "military troops outside the main group". The meaning later shifted to "sport" and "play".

Components

䖒
䖒 Sound component
xī earthenware with the shape of a bean
戈
戈 Meaning component
gē spear
Change in meaning
戈 hints at the original meaning of 戲, "military troops outside the main group", which is no longer the most common meaning of 戲 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartxjeHŋ̊(r)ar-s sport, joke

說文解字

《說文》：“戲，三軍之偏也。一曰兵也。从戈，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)