Original meaning: tattoo the face for a crime committed
Pictograph of a person whose face has been tattooed, now written as 墨. 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 炎 (flame).
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | xok | m̥ˤək (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
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Simplified
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | mj+jX | [m]əjʔ | tail |
說文解字
《說文》：“尾，微也。从到毛在尸後。古人或飾系尾，西南夷亦然。”
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)
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | drijX | lr[i]jʔ | pheasant |
| Zhengzhang | l'iʔ | ||
| Unicode | djhǐ |
說文解字
有十四種：盧諸雉，喬雉，鳪雉，鷩雉，秩秩海雉，翟山雉，翰雉，卓雉，伊洛而南曰翬，江淮而南曰搖，南方曰𢏚，東方曰钕，北方曰稀，西方曰蹲。从隹矢聲。
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | gjieng | m-[k]eŋ (no palatalization before *-eŋ?) | neck |
| kjiengX | [k]eŋʔ (no palatalization before *-eŋ?) | neck |
說文解字
《說文》：“頸，頭莖也。从頁，巠聲。”
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)
Traditional
Pictograph of an old person with long hair using a cane to walk.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | drjang | Cə-[N]-traŋ | long (adj.) |
| trjangX | traŋʔ | grow; elder |
說文解字
《說文》：“長，久遠也。从兀，从匕。兀者，高遠意也。久則變化。亾聲。●者倒亾也。，古文長；，亦古文長。”
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)