Origin unclear. Possibly depicts cracks on a shell or tree bark.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kaep | [k]ˤr[a]p | 1st heavenly stem; fingernail |
說文解字
《說文》：“甲，東方之孟，陽气萌動。从木戴孚甲之象。一曰人頭宜為甲，甲象人頭。，古文甲，始於十，見於千，成於木之象。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.957-958李学勤《字源》p.1270-1271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 a tortoise.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Sound (1)
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kjuw | [k]ʷə | tortoise |
| kwij | [k]ʷrə | tortoise |
說文解字
《說文》：“龜，舊也，外骨內肉者也。从它，龜頭與它頭同，天地之性，廣肩無雄。龜鼈之類，以它為雄。象足、甲、尾之形。，古文龜。”
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)