hēi​dǐng​wā​kǒu​chī

Hodgson's frogmouth

hēi black

Original meaning: tattoo the face for a crime committed

Pictograph of a person whose face has been tattooed, now written as . In ancient China criminals were punished by having their faces permanently marked. Later writers reanalyzed the character as a chimney being blackened by fire, so the bottom component was written to look like (flame).

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 (3 of 14 verified)

Sound (3 of 5 verified)

Iconic (2)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxokm̥ˤək (dialect *m̥ˤ- > xˤ-)black

說文解字

《說文》:“黑,火所熏之色也。从炎上出囦。囦古字。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.760漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

dǐng top Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

Sound component
dīng cubes
Meaning component
page

Depicts a head.

Sources

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

frog

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

Meaning component
chóng bug, insect
Sound component
guī jade pointed at top

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'waeqʷˤre (MC -ae for -ea)frog
'weaqʷˤrefrog
hwaem-qʷˤre (MC -ae for -ea)frog
hweam-qʷˤrefrog
Zhengzhangqʷraː
qʷreː
Unicodequa

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang

kǒu, kou mouth

Pictograph of a mouth.

Character Evolution

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 Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 5 verified)

Unknown (1 of 2 verified)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhuwXkʰˤ(r)oʔ mouth

說文解字

《說文》:“口,人所以言食也。象形。”

Sources

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

chī kite Simplified

Components

Sound component
dī, dǐ, zhī bottom
Meaning component
niǎo bird

bird

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

dǐng top Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
dīng cubes
Meaning component
(head), page

Depicts a head.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttengXtˤeŋʔ top of the head

說文解字

《說文》:“頂,顛也。从頁,丁聲。,或从作。,籀文从鼎。”

Sources

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

kite Traditional

Components

Sound component
dī, dǐ, zhī bottom
Meaning component
niǎo bird

bird

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyhijtʰij鴟鵂 tsyhij.xjuw owl
Zhengzhangtʰjil
Unicodechi

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica