甦

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): from 更生 (“to be reborn”).
From *s- (“causative prefix”) + a root **ŋˤa, the latter found in 寤 (OC *ŋˤa-s, “to awake”), 悟 (OC *ŋˤa-s, “to awake; to realize”) (Baxter and Sagart, 2014; Schuessler, 2007).
Alternatively, Zhang, Jacques, and Lai (2019) compare it to Japhug sŋa (“to come to oneself”), Cogtse Situ [Term?] (kə-mə-sŋâr, “to feel cold”), Brag-bar Situ [Term?] (kə-mə-sŋiɛ̂r, “to come to oneself”).

cog

(literary) to revive; to resuscitate; to regain consciousness


毛

→ Arabic: مَاو (māw)

→ English: Mao

→ French: Mao

→ German: Mao

→ Italian: Mao

→ Persian: مائو (mâ'u)

→ Russian: Ма́о (Máo)

→ Turkish: Mao

→ Uyghur: ماۋ (maw)

Characters in the same phonetic series (毛) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – feather or hair.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s/r-m(u/i/ja)l (“hair; fur; feather”); related to 眉 (OC *mril, “eyebrow”) and cognate with Manipuri ꯃꯨꯅ (mun, “pubic hair”), Garo খিমিল (khimil, “hair; fur”), Proto-Lolo-Burmese *ʔ-məw¹ (“body hair”) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007).
(Cantonese) (mold): folk etymology suggests from English mold.

cog

一毛錢／一毛钱

三塊兩毛／三块两毛

three yuan and two jiao / three dollars and twenty cents

五毛黨／五毛党 ― wǔmáodǎng ― wumao

(colloquial) jiao; one tenth of a yuan or dollar; ten cents; dime

毛茶


珠

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjo): semantic 𤣩 (“jade”) + phonetic 朱 (OC *tjo).

Han compound

pearl-like object; bead (Classifier: 粒 m; 顆／颗 m)


瑰

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kuːl, *ɡuːl): semantic 𤣩 (“jade”) + phonetic 鬼 (OC *kulʔ).

Han compound

semi-precious stone that is less precious than jade


清

Cao Wei
Chen dynasty
Eastern Han dynasty
Eastern Wei
Eastern Wu
Eastern Zhou dynasty
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
Han dynasty
Jin dynasty (1115–1234)
Jin dynasty (265–420)
Liang dynasty
Liao dynasty
Liu Song dynasty
Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area
Ming dynasty
Northern Qi
Northern Wei
Northern Zhou
Northern and Southern dynasties
Qin dynasty
Qing dynasty
Shang dynasty
Shu Han
Song dynasty
Southern Qi
Southern and Northern dynasties
Spring and Autumn period
Sui dynasty
Tang dynasty
Three Kingdoms
Warring States period
Western Han dynasty
Western Liao
Western Wei
Western Xia
Western Zhou dynasty
Xia dynasty
Xin dynasty
Yuan dynasty
Zhou dynasty

→ English: Ching, Cing, Qing

/t͡sʰi̯aŋ²⁴/

/t͡sʰi̯aŋ²⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰleŋ): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 青 (OC *sʰleːŋ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(t)s(j)aŋ (“clear; pure; clean”); cognate with Tibetan གཙང (gtsang, “clean; pure”), Mizo thiang (“to be clear; to be clean; to be pure”), Southern Qiang ɕó, Drung cangma (“clean”), Burmese စင် (cang, “clean, pure”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT).
Within Chinese, cognate with 淨 (OC *zeŋs, “clean”), 醒 (OC *seːŋ, *seːŋʔ, *seːŋs, “to wake up; to become sober”), and allofamic with 星 (OC *sleːŋ, “star”), 晴 (OC *zleŋ, “(of weather) clear; fine”); possibly also related to 靜 (OC *zleŋʔ, “quiet”) (Schuessler, 2007).
Perhaps an areal word; compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *caŋ (“to glitter”) (Schuessler, 2007).

och-l

(～朝) the Qing (Ching) dynasty (Manchu) (1644-1911)


瑕

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡraː): semantic 𤣩 + phonetic 叚 (OC *kraːʔ).


獲

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷraːɡ) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): semantic 犭 + phonetic 蒦 () (the phonetic 蒦 also serves as a semantic element, meaning “to catch”) — according to Kōjien, to hunt and catch animals with a dog.

Han compound

Only used in 獲鹿／获鹿. (Old name of 鹿泉 (Lùquán))


瑞

Characters in the same phonetic series (耑) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djols): semantic 玉 (“jade”) + phonetic 耑 (OC *toːn).


猜

/t͡sʰaːi̯⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰaːi̯⁵⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰlɯː): semantic 犭 + phonetic 青 (OC *sʰleːŋ).

Han compound

猜錯

猜错


法

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (法):
* → Japanese: 法(ほう) (hō)
* → Korean: 법(法) (beop)
* → Vietnamese: pháp (法)

→ Proto-Tai

desc

Lao: ແບບ (bǣp, “form; model, standard, example; method; style, manner; brand, type”)

Thai: แบบ (bɛ̀ɛp, “kind; design, pattern; style; type; model”)

→ Khmer: បែប (baep, “kind, sort, model, type; style, form, shape; aspect; method, way, situation, condition”)

→ Vietnamese: phép (“rule, custom, usage, method; permission, authorisation; magical power”)

→ Manchu: ᡶᠠᡶᡠᠨ (fafun, “law; rule; punishment”)

Simplified from earlier 灋, which was originally used to represent 廢 (OC *pads, “to cast aside; to abrogate”).
Sino-Tibetan. Cognate with Tibetan བབས (babs, “shape, form, appearance”), དབྱིབས (dbyibs, “shape, form, figure”), Burmese ပုံ (pum, “shape, form”). Possibly cognate with 凡 (OC *bom, “all, general, every; pattern, general rule”); see there for more.

och-l

40th tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "law" (𝌭)


猶

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *klus, *lu, *lus): semantic 犬 (“dog”) + phonetic 酋 (OC *sɡlu) – a kind of monkey.

Han compound

犹
犹
夭
還
尚
野:iá
也:iá

Short for 猶太／犹太 (Yóutài, “Jew; Jewish”).


珪

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (珪):
* → Japanese: 珪(けい) (kei)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʷeː): semantic 玉 (“jade”) + phonetic 圭 (OC *kʷeː).

Han compound

See also: 圭

(historical) jade tablet used by officials when addressing the emperor in court


獻

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (獻):
* → Vietnamese: hiến (獻)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sŋaːl, *hŋans, *ŋrad): phonetic 鬳 (OC *ŋans) + semantic 犬 (“dog”).
Same word as 憲 (OC *hŋans) (Schuessler, 2007), its basic meaning being seemingly "elevate > to be elavated".
Inside the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, it's related to 甗 (OC *ŋan, *ŋranʔ, *ŋrans, “a cooking vessel consisting of a steamer 'elevated' on a three-legged boiler”). Furthermore, it's possibly cognate to Tibetan སྔར་མ (sngar ma, “sharp-witted, quick-witted, intelligent”) (ibid., Gong, 2000).


犯

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (犯):
* → Japanese: 犯(はん) (han)
* → Korean: 범(犯) (beom)
* → Vietnamese: phạm (犯)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *bomʔ): semantic 犬 + phonetic 𢎘 ().
"To pass over" > "to offend against, oppose". Compare 氾.
This character originally had bilabial nasal (*-m) final in Old and Middle Chinese, but had undergone dissimilation (from bilabial plosive *b-) to become *-n in most dialects. However, there are still some dialects that retain this feature, such as Meixian and Teochew dialect. Similar dissimilation happened in 帆 and 風.

Han compound

犯脾氣

犯脾气

to happen; to break out (usually something wrong or bad)


琢

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *rtoːɡ): semantic 𤣩 (“jade”) + phonetic 豖 (OC *tʰoɡ). However, the phonetic component indicates a male castrated pig (thus a pig whose genitals are cut), hence it could add part of the meaning.

Han compound

Only used in 琢磨 (zuómo, “to think over; to ponder”).


炎

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (炎):
* → Japanese: 炎(えん) (en)
* → Korean: 염(炎) (yeom)
* → Vietnamese: viêm (炎)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 火 (“fire”) + 火 (“fire”). Vertical duplication of 火 (“fire”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ljam (“tongue; lick; flame”) (STEDT). Cognate with Chepang लेम्ह्सा (lemh‑, “to lick”), Burmese အလျှံ (a.hlyam, “flame; iridescence”). Within Chinese, cognate with 焰 (OC *loms, “to flame up”), 舔 (OC *l̥ʰiːmʔ, “to lick”). Compare also Khmer លាម (liəm, “to flare up”) (Schuessler, 2007).

cog

(mythology) Yan Emperor (ancient legendary Chinese ruler)


流

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ru): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 㐬 ().
Cognate with Tibetan རྒྱུ་ (rgyu, “to move, to go, to wander”) (Hill, 2019).

cog

汖
㳅
𡵰
𣳛
𭰈
𣴑
𣹭
𣹳
𣻤
⿰氵巟
⿰氵𡿮
⿰𣴑水
⿲水𡿮水
⿲氺⿱一𠫝水
⿰氵⿱厶⿲丿丨㇏

(physics) Short for 流明 (liúmíng, “lumen”).


為

Characters in the same phonetic series (爲) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Simplified from 爲.
In the oracle bone script, it is an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 又 (“hand”) + 象 (“elephant”) — a hand holding an elephant. The 又 later became 爪 (“hand; claw”).
Shuowen Jiezi interprets the character as a representation of the female macaque.
The two pronunciations below (“to make; to do; to be”, “for; to; because”) are cognate; the latter is the *–s derivative of the former. Words meaning “to make, to do” often have secondary meanings of “for, as” – compare 作.
Etymology not certain. Starostin compared this word with Tibetan བགྱིད (bgyid, “to make, to manufacture”), བགྱི་བ (bgyi ba, “action, deed”), ཡིན (yin, “is, be”) and Burmese ဝေ (we, “to distribute, to share”). Schuessler (2007) listed *ʔaajh (“to give”) (> Khmer ឲ្យ (ʼaoy, “to give, to donate”)) and Khmer ធ្វើ (thvəə, “to do, to make”), although the vowels do not match.
The graphic representation using a monkey or an elephant probably stems from a homophonic or near-homophonic etymon which was rarely attested; compare Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b/g-woj-n > Jingpho woi (“monkey”) and possibly 猿 (OC *ɢʷan, “ape”). STEDT considers this word to be a possible descendant of Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-gwi(j) (“elephant”). Outside Sino-Tibetan, compare Proto-Vietic *-vɔːj (“elephant”) > Vietnamese voi (“elephant”).

cog

If good men were to govern a country in succession for a hundred years, they would be able to transform the violently bad, and dispense with capital punishments.

The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Shànrén wéi bāng bǎinián, yì kěyǐ shèng cán qù shā yǐ.

善人為邦百年，亦可以勝殘去殺矣。

善人为邦百年，亦可以胜残去杀矣。

大為不滿／大为不满

廣為流傳／广为流传

Suffix used after a single-character adjective to form an adverb

頗為激動／颇为激动

極為緊張／极为紧张

Suffix used after a single-character adverb for emphasis


獨

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (獨):
* → Japanese: 独(どく) (doku); 独(とく) (toku)
* → Korean: 독(獨) (dok)
* → Vietnamese: độc (獨)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *doːɡ): semantic 犭 + phonetic 蜀 (OC *djoɡ).
Perhaps related to 特 (OC *dɯːɡ, “single, alone”); see there for more.

Han compound

Have you not seen a wildcat or a weasel?

子獨不見狸狌乎？

子独不见狸狌乎？

(literary) Indicates a rhetorical question: is it possible that...


死

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (死):
* → Japanese: 死(し) (shi)
* → Korean: 사(死) (sa)
* → Vietnamese: tử (死)

Wutunhua: se

→ Thai: ซี้ (síi)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 歹 (“carcass”) + 人 (“person”) – death.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *səj.

Han compound

𣦸
𣦹
𠒁
𠑾
𦭀
𦫺
𤯽
𣥴

被難

to be killed in a disaster, political incident

死節

死节

So, if a lord is killed fulfilling his duty to the divinities of the land, one joins him in death.

故君為社稷死，則死之。

故君为社稷死，则死之。

He who has given counsel to another about his army should die with it when it is defeated.

The Book of Rites, c. 4ᵗʰ – 2ⁿᵈ century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

謀人之軍師，敗則死之。

谋人之军师，败则死之。

At this moment, certain death awaits us no matter whether we escape as fugitives or rouse ourselves to a grand cause. One death is just as good as another; shall we not rather die for our lost fatherland?

The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

Jīn wáng yì sǐ, jǔ dàjì yì sǐ, děng sǐ, sǐ guó kěhū?

今亡亦死，舉大計亦死，等死，死國可乎？

今亡亦死，举大计亦死，等死，死国可乎？

The covetous run after riches,
The impassioned pursue a fair name;
The proud die struggling for power,
While the people long only to live.

c. 174 BCE, Jia Yi (賈誼), The Owl (《鵩鳥賦》). Translated by Burton Watson.

Tānfū xùncái, lièshì xùnmíng. Kuāzhě sǐquán, pǐnshù měishēng.

貪夫徇財，烈士徇名。夸者死權，品庶每生。

贪夫徇财，烈士徇名。夸者死权，品庶每生。

^† (transitive) to die for the sake of; to sacrifice oneself for; to die together with someone


氣

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (氣):
* → Japanese: 気(き) (ki)
* → Korean: 기(氣) (gi)
* → Vietnamese: khí (氣)

→ English: chi, qi, ki

→ Finnish: ki

/t͡ɕʰiə̯ɻ⁵¹/

/t͡ɕʰiə̯ɻ⁵¹/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰɯds, *qʰɯds): phonetic 气 (OC *kʰɯds) + semantic 米 (“rice”) – to give rice as a gift.
Later borrowed meanings of “air, flow” from 气 (OC *kʰɯds). The derivative 餼 (OC *qʰɯds) refers to the original word. Compare 乞 (OC *kʰɯds, *kʰɯd).

Han compound

气
气
炁
𣱛
𣱖
𤽍
𣅠
㫓
*暣
気

氣味

气味

to have the odor of alcohol all over one's body

滿身酒氣

满身酒气

我很氣。

我很气。

氣哭了

气哭了


瓷

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zli): phonetic 次 (OC *sn̥ʰis) + semantic 瓦 (“earthenware”).


熊

According to Shuowen, phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷlɯm): semantic 能 (“bear”) + abbreviated phonetic 炎 (OC *ɦlam).
This character originally represented an onomatopoetic word (熊熊 (xióngxióng, “(of flame) raging”)). Later its semantic component 能 (OC *nɯː, *nɯːs, *nɯːŋ, *nɯːŋʔ), the character for the Old Chinese word "bear", was borrowed for another word. This character thus began to represent the word "bear" instead.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-wam. Cognate with Tibetan དོམ (dom, “bear”), Burmese ဝံ (wam) (in ဝက်ဝံ (wak-wam, “bear”)).

Han compound

What dreams are lucky?
They have been about black bears and brown bears;
They have been about asps and adders.

The Classic of Poetry, c. 11ᵗʰ – 7ᵗʰ centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Jí mèng wéi hé?
Wéi xióng wéi pí,
Wéi huǐ wéi shé.

吉夢維何？
維熊維羆、
維虺維蛇。

吉梦维何？
维熊维罴、
维虺维蛇。

(archaic, Muping and Xining Mandarin, Xinzhou Jin) black bear

Xiong Shili (20th-century Chinese philosopher)

熊十力

a surname: Xiong (mainland China); Hsiung (Taiwan); Hung (Hong Kong)


木

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (木):
* → Japanese: 木(もく) (moku); 木(ぼく) (boku)
* → Korean: 목(木) (mok)
* → Vietnamese: mộc (木)

→ Lü: ᦙᦴᧉ (muu²)

Characters in the same phonetic series (木) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – a tree: branches on top, roots on the bottom (more visible in earlier forms). See also 本, 未, 末 and the top component of both 尞 and 夌 in their original version.
Unrelated to 耒, in which it represents a bifurcated plow, and 茶, in which it represents the door of a hut. Unrelated to 米 since it is the pictogram of six rice kernels. Also unrelated to 保, in which it represents the body of a newborn baby.
No known cognate exists. It can perhaps be compared with Proto-Karen *məŋᴮ (“trunk (of a tree); firewood”) (Starostin) or Proto-Lolo-Burmese *ʔmuk (“stump (of a tree)”) (Schuessler, 2007).
The common Sino-Tibetan root for “tree; wood” is *siŋ ~ sik, represented by 薪 (OC *siŋ, “firewood”).

cog

就木

to die (literally, “to enter one's coffin”)

Yuan Rang got up on the coffin [of his mother] and said, "It is long since I sang to anything."

Yuán Rǎng dēng mù yuē: “Jiǔ yǐ yǔ zhī bù tuō yú yīn yě.”

原壤登木曰：「久矣予之不托於音也。」

原壤登木曰：「久矣予之不托于音也。」


痠

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sloːn): semantic 疒 (“illness; disease”) + phonetic 夋 (OC *sʰlun).


爭

→ Vietnamese: giành

Pictogram (象形) – two hands on a plowshare. The two hands are still visibile on top of the character (爪 and 彐), while the plowshare looks like a vertical hook in modern writing.
; "to dispute; to fight; to contend; to strive"
; "to lack; to owe"

I still owe you thirty cents, I'll give it to you tomorrow.

ngo³ huan² zen¹ nyi³ san¹ go² qian² min² tian¹ ge¹ nyi³

我還爭你三角錢，明天給你。

我还争你三角钱，明天给你。


片

→ Proto-Southwestern Tai: *pʰɛːnᴮ¹

Ahom: 𑜇𑜢𑜐𑜫 (phiñ)

Lao: ແຜ່ນ (phǣn)

Northern Thai: ᨹᩯ᩠᩵ᨶ

Shan: ၽႅၼ်ႇ (phèn)

Tai Dam: ꪵꪠ꪿ꪙ

Tai Nüa: ᥚᥦᥢᥱ (phǎen)

Thai: แผ่น (pɛ̀n)

/pʰiːn³³⁻³⁵/

/pʰen³³⁻³³⁵/

/pʰiːn³³⁻³⁵/

/pʰen³³⁻³³⁵/

Mirror image of 爿 (OC *braːn, “piece”), which is the pictogram of a bed.
Shuowen: half of 木 (“wood; tree”) to denote “to pare; to slice”; but this interpretation is not based on oracle bones and bronzes.

一片麵包／一片面包

Classifier for flat objects such as leaves, pieces of paper, slices, etc.

Gazing at the sea, tired, without tears or words

mong⁶ zoek⁶ hoi² jat¹ pin³, mun⁵ waai⁴ gyun⁶, mou⁴ leoi⁶ jaa⁵ mou⁴ jin⁴

望著海一片 滿懷倦 無淚也無言

望着海一片 满怀倦 无泪也无言

Classifier for tracts of land and areas of water.


猿

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷan): semantic 犭 + phonetic 袁 (OC *ɢʷan).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b/g-woj-n (“monkey”).
Alternatively, the root may be Austroasiatic; compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *swaaʔ (“monkey”) (Schuessler, 2007); compare also Proto-Mon-Khmer *kwaɲ ~ kwaaɲʔ.


畿

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡɯl): semantic 田 + abbreviated phonetic 幾 (OC *kɯl, *kɯlʔ, *ɡɯl, *ɡɯls).


畲

Alternative form of 畬 (“to slash and burn; slash-and-burn farmland”), now mostly used in place names.


燕

→ Proto-Tai: *ʔeːnᴮ

Proto-Southwestern Tai: *ʔɛːnᴮ

Pictogram (象形) – a swallow.
Possibly related to 鳦 (OC *qriːd, *qrid) (Wang, 1982). Some have connected it with 咽 (OC *qiːns, “to swallow”), but it is unlikely to be related (Schuessler, 2007).

swallow (family Hirundinidae) or swift (family Apodidae)

Alternative form: 毽


燕

→ English: Yan, Yen

(historical) Yan, an ancient march, duchy, and kingdom of northeastern China during the Zhou dynasty

(historical) the four Yan kingdoms of the Sixteen Kingdoms

燕草如碧絲，秦桑低綠枝。

燕草如碧丝，秦桑低绿枝。


會

/wuːi̯²²⁻³⁵/

/vᵘɔi³²⁻³²⁵/

/wuːi̯²²⁻³⁵/

/vᵘɔi³²⁻³²⁵/

Characters in the same phonetic series (會) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形). The upper part and the lower part of the character, on the basis of the original versions, can be unified into 合 (two open mouths) with a food container in the middle; this character means both "bring together" (e.g., bring together people to discuss, putting a lid on a vessel) and "close, shut". The top of the character resembles 食, but it's connected to another mouth at the bottom of the character. The food container could be a kuài 膾, an ancient container for raw fish and finely minced/chopped meat.
As an alternative, it's a pointed lid on top of a container, with a mouth at the bottom either to indicate the activity of talking or as a distinguish mark to differentiate it from 食.
Most of the pronunciations are ultimately cognate, derived from a root meaning "to join, to come together ~ to meet, to gather ~ to match, to fit ~ to understand". Perhaps related to 合 (OC *kuːb, *ɡuːb, “to match”) ~ 蓋 (OC *kaːbs, *kaːb, *ɡaːb, “lid”).
However, Min Nan ē instead derives from 解 (OC *kreːʔ, *kreːs, *ɡreːʔ, *ɡreːs, “to understand”) (Yang, 2001).

och-l

会
㑹
㞧
㣛
𠃐
𣌭
𣥈


熱

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (熱):
* → Japanese: 熱(ねつ) (netsu)
* → Korean: 열(熱) (yeol)
* → Vietnamese: nhiệt (熱)

/d͡ziɛt̚¹²¹/

/d͡ziɛt̚¹²¹/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋjed): phonetic 埶 (OC *ŋeds) + semantic 灬 (“fire”).
Schuessler (2024) considers this a *-t derivation of Proto-Sino-Tibetan *nwe (“warm”), whence also Burmese နွေး (nwe:, “warm; lukewarm”), နွှေး (hnwe:, “to warm something; to revise”).
Often considered to be related to 爇 (OC *ŋʷjed, “to burn; to toast”) and 焫 (OC *njod, “hot”).

Han compound

一杯熱茶

一杯热茶

di¹ tong¹ zung⁶ hou² jit⁶, siu² sam¹ di¹ laa¹.

啲湯仲好熱，小心啲啦。

啲汤仲好热，小心啲啦。

湯還熱呢，要小心。

汤还热呢，要小心。

Once the pan is hot enough, you must put the oil down quickly.

Thèng-hāu tiáⁿ lia̍t ê sî, ài kóaⁿ-kín khǹg iû lo̍h-khì.

聽候鼎熱的時，愛趕緊囥油落去。

听候鼎热的时，爱赶紧囥油落去。

熱門

热门

用烏麻油的物件真熱。

用乌麻油的物件真热。

traditional Chinese medicine
traditional Chinese medicine


狼

Characters in the same phonetic series (良) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *raːŋ): semantic 犭 + phonetic 良 (OC *raŋ).

Han compound

When Ning Cheng was the commandant of Jinan, his governance was like a wolf tending to sheep.

Níng Chéng wèi Jǐnán dōuwèi, qí zhì rú láng mùyáng.

寧成為濟南都尉，其治如狼牧羊。

宁成为济南都尉，其治如狼牧羊。

wolf (Classifier: 匹 m; 隻／只 m c; 條／条 m; 頭／头 m)


特

desc

→ Bouyei: dag (“male (of animals); classifier for male animals”)

→ Proto-Southwestern Tai: *tʰɤkᴰ (“young male animal”)

Thai: ถึก (tʉ̀k, “young ox; male water buffalo”)

Lao: ເຖິກ (thœk, “male (of animals)”)

→ Proto-Vietic: *dək (“male”)

Vietnamese: đực (“male (of animal); bull”)

→ Zhuang: daeg (“male (of animals); classifier for young males”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *dɯːɡ): semantic 牛 (“ox”) + phonetic 寺 (OC *ljɯs) – large bull.
There seem to be two main semantic fields: "bull" and "single; unique". It is unclear whether these two fields are related. Schuessler (2007) suggests a possible derivation of "bull" from "match", but "bull" seems to be the earlier sense. The "single; unique" sense could be an extension of "bull" due to its largeness (Li Xueqin, 2012).
In the "bull" sense, it is related to 犆 (OC *dɯɡ, “ox”) (Schuessler, 2007).
Wang (1982) relates the "three-year-animal" sense to 犢 (OC *l'oːɡ, “calf”); see there for more.
In the "single" sense, it is related to 直 (OC *dɯɡ, “simply; only”), 職 (OC *tjɯɡ, “simply; only”) (Schuessler, 2007). Wang (1982) relates it to 徒 (OC *l'aː) and 但 (OC *daːnʔ) in the "only" sense, as well as 獨 (OC *doːɡ, “single”) in the "single" sense, but see these entries for more.


瘴

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kjaŋs): semantic 疒 (“illness”) + phonetic 章 (OC *kjaŋ)

Han compound

miasma; noxious vapours arising from a swamp


疫

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷeɡ): semantic 疒 (“sickness”) + abbreviated phonetic 役 (OC *ɢʷeɡ).


甌

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qoː) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): phonetic 區 (OC *qoː, *kʰo, “vessel”) + semantic 瓦 (“pottery”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ʔəw-ŋ (“pot; vat; jar”) (reconstructed provisionally). Related to 椀 (OC *qoːnʔ), 碗 (OC *qoːnʔ, “bowl”), and possibly 甕 (OC *qoːŋs, “urn”). Compare Burmese အိုး (ui:, “pot”) (Schuessler, 2007).

inh

Abbreviation of 溫州／温州 (Wēnzhōu): Wenzhou (a prefecture-level city in Zhejiang, in southeastern China)


洋

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (洋):
* → Japanese: 洋(よう) (yō)
* → Korean: 양(洋) (yang)
* → Vietnamese: dương (洋)

→ Zhuang: yangz

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ljaŋ, *laŋ): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 羊 (OC *laŋ).
; “multitudinous; vast; ocean”: Schuessler (2007) compares it with Tibetan ཡངས་པ (yangs pa, “wide; extensive; vast; spacious”). In contrast, Starostin sets up Proto-Sino-Tibetan *lɨ̆ŋ (“wave”), encompassing this and Tibetan ཀློང (klong, “space; expanse; wave”), Burmese လှိုင်း (hluing:, “wave; to abound; plentiful”).
: Compare 羕 (OC *laŋs, “(of rivers) long”), 漾 (OC *laŋs, “waves; (of rivers) long”).
; "vast expanse of flat land"

cog

撥我三隻洋。

拨我三只洋。

(historical or Shanghainese) foreign money; dollar (Classifier: 隻／只 w)


甄

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ken, *kin): phonetic 垔 (OC *qin) + semantic 瓦.

Han compound

甄子丹


畢

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 田 (“field”) + 𠦒 (“net”) – a net used for hunting in the field. Compare with 單

Twenty-Eight Mansions
w:Twenty-Eight Mansions

(～宿) (Chinese astronomy) Net (one of Twenty-Eight Mansions)


痘

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *doːs) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): semantic 疒 (“illness”) + phonetic 豆 (OC *doːs, “bean”) - a disease causing bean-shaped skin eruption.


狸

Eastern Han Chinese
Fangyan (book)
Guo Pu

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *rɯ): semantic 犬 (“dog”) + phonetic 里 (OC *rɯʔ). Originally an unorthodox variant (俗字) of the character 貍 (lí).
Uncertain. Here some proposals:
*Fangyan https://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=en&id=45515 and Guo Pu consider it to be one among many dialectal words for 貔 (OC *bi), which however is a different word (Schuessler, 2007) (see there).
*Zhao & Huang (1998) (apud Schuessler, 2007) connects it to Hmong pli ~ ple "cat".
*Schuessler (2007) minimally reconstructs 貍 (OC *rə) from *pʰrə ~ *pʰə-rə and proposes possible Sino-Tibetan etymology and compares it to Mru pri (“a kind of leopard”) (see also Löffler, 1966); he also sees potential cognacy with Tibetan ཞི་མི (zhi mi), ཞིམ་བུ (zhim bu), ཞུམ་བུ (zhum bu) - all meaning "cat" - if those were from *ryi-mi; additionally, པི་ཤི (pi shi, “cat”) (< *zhi?) is possibly equivalent to Old Chinese dialectal forms with initial *pʰ- (e.g. 𧳏 (pī) < LHC *pʰiə < OC *pʰrə or 𧳏貍／𧳏狸 (pīlí)); in that case, the original Chinese word might have been a compound: 貔狸 "(large) cat and small cat"; even so, see 貔 (OC *bi) for possible Indic influence on Tibetan byi ~ pi (ibid.).
*STEDT reconstructs Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-(l/r)e(y/ŋ) (“squirrel, weasel”) and proposes cognacy with 鼪 (OC *sreŋ, *sreŋs), Tibetan སྲེ་མོང (sre mong, “weasel”), Burmese ရှဉ့် (hrany., “squirrel”), etc.

zh-l

𧳏貍／𧳏狸 (pīlí)

inh

子獨不見狸狌乎？

子独不见狸狌乎？


珍

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔl'ɯn): semantic 玉 + phonetic 㐱 (). Originally meant a rich, robust gemstone (玉), and then also developed the meaning of "rare".
Compare Tibetan རིན (rin, “price; value”) (Schuessler, 2007).


癱

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *n̥ʰaːn): semantic 疒 + phonetic 難 (OC *n̥ʰaːn, *naːns).


猛

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (猛):
* → Japanese: 猛(もう) (mō)

→ Vietnamese: mạnh (猛, “powerful”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mraːŋʔ): semantic 犬 + phonetic 孟 (OC *mraːŋs).

Han compound

(Eastern Min, Teochew, Hainanese, Zhangzhou and Penang Hokkien, dialectal Hakka) fast; quick


疤

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *praː): semantic 疒 + phonetic 巴 (OC *praː).
Possibly from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *baːr (“bloom, flower”), as scars could be seen as "flowery" outgrowths on skin. See 葩 (OC *pʰraː, “flower”) for more (STEDT).

inh

scar; cicatrix (Classifier: 道 m; 條／条 m c)


現

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡeːns): semantic 玉 (“jade”) + phonetic 見 (OC *keːns, *ɡeːns). The use of 王 as the archaic form of 玉 is a reference to something precious and/or brilliant that easily catches the eye. However, the phonetic component indicates an eye, hence it adds part of the meaning.
Stativized form of the transitive verb 見 (OC *keːns, “to see”), formed by a nasal prefix and expressing the sense "to be visible; to appear" (Mei, 2012).

Han compound

現金／现金

現貨／现货


瘸

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡʷal): semantic 疒 (“sickness”) + phonetic 加 (OC *kraːl) + semantic 肉 (“flesh”).

Han compound

瘸著走

瘸着走


癇

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡreːn): semantic 疒 (“illness”) + phonetic 閒 (OC *ɡreːn).


班

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (班):
* → Japanese: 班(はん) (han)
* → Korean: 반(班) (ban)
* → Vietnamese: ban (班)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 珏 (“pieces of jade”) + 刀 (“knife”) – to cut jade to pieces with knife. The pieces of jade appear as a more conservative version 玨. The knife in the middle is well visibile in the conservative variant 𤤻. Unrelated to 师.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(b/p)ral (“to leave, depart, separate”) (STEDT). Cognate with Tibetan བྲལ་བ (bral ba, “to be separated”), འཕྲལ་བ ('phral ba, “to cause to be separated, to separate”), Miju phɑ̆l⁵³ (“to pull (weeds)”), phɹɯl⁵⁵ lɑ³⁵ (“to collapse”), Thulung phal si- (“to collapse”), Burmese ပြား (pra:, “various”), Jingpho pə³¹-ran³¹.
Karlgren (1933) grouped 班 (OC *praːn), 半 (OC *paːns), and 釆 (OC *brens) into one word family.
Schuessler (2007) also pointed to Austroasiatic comparanda semantically closer to Chinese; such as Khmer រាល (riəl, “to spread, extend, distribute”) and Khmer ព្រាល (priəl, “to spread”) with causative prefix *p-.
Possibly the same etymon as 斑 (OC *praːn, “variegated, spotted, striped”), which may be cognate to 羆 (OC *pral, “brown bear”) (Zhang, 2019).

och-l

上班

晚班


母

Sino-Xenic (母):
* → Vietnamese: mẫu (母)

Differentiated form of 女 with the addition of distinguishing dots. In the early oracle bone texts both words 女 (OC *naʔ, *nas, “woman”) and 母 were written as 女 (Yao, 1989, Liu, 2011, Huang, 2014). Part of this character appears in 乳.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mow (“woman, female”).

inh

(figuratively, of instruments, tools, or connectors) female


痧

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 疒 (“illness; disease”) + phonetic 沙 (OC *sraːl, *sraːls).

Han compound

(traditional Chinese medicine or dialectal) acute illness, such as heatstroke, cholera, and measles


猴

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡoː): semantic 犭 + phonetic 侯 (OC *ɡoː).
The first syllable in 母猴 (OC *mɯʔ ɡoː, “macaque”) and 沐猴 (OC *moːɡ ɡoː, “macaque”) may perhaps be an old pre-initial (Unger, 1985).
Compare Proto-Lolo-Burmese *myukᴸ (“monkey”), which derives from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *m(j/r)uk (“monkey”) (Pinault et al., 1997, STEDT).

Han compound

掠猴 [Hokkien] ― lia̍h-kâu [Pe̍h-ōe-jī] ― to catch an adulterer


痰

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'aːm): semantic 疒 (“illness”) + phonetic 炎 (OC *ɦlam).

Han compound

phlegm; sputum (Classifier: 口 m; 篤／笃 c; 啖 c)


疲

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *bral): semantic 疒 (“sick”) + phonetic 皮 (OC *bral) – sick and tired.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *bal (“tired; thirsty”), whence Burmese ပန်း (pan:, “to be tired”) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007; Hill, 2014).


瘋

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *plum): semantic 疒 + phonetic 風 (OC *plum, *plums).

Han compound

to go crazy; to become insane; to go mad


率

Pictogram (象形) – according to Xu Shen, a net to capture birds. 冫幺冫is the net, and the top and bottom is the stick. But in the original version, the horizontal stroke in the lower part is missing, therefore the whole character should represent a rope, 繂.
; “to lead”


瘤

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *m·ru, *m·rus): semantic 疒 (“illness”) + phonetic 留 (OC *m·ru, *m·rus).

Han compound

生瘤 [Cantonese] ― saang¹ lau⁴⁻² [Jyutping] ― to get a tumour

我琴日撞𰈍个头，起咗个瘤。 [Cantonese, simp.]
ngo⁵ kam⁴ jat⁶ zong⁶ can¹ go³ tau⁴, hei² zo² go³ lau⁴⁻². [Jyutping]

Yesterday, I hit my head and got a bump.

(regional) bump; swelling; bruise (Classifier: 個／个 c)


比

Characters in the same phonetic series (比) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 人 (“man”) + 人 – to juxtapose. Similar but unrelated to 从, 尼, 化 and 北.
Perhaps from a Proto-Sino-Tibetan *phi-r/n/s (“late, behind, after, outside”) (STEDT root #5883). Cognate with 頻 (OC *bin, “several in succession”); outside of Sinitic, compare Proto-Naga *pʰaːy (“after”), as well as possibly Burmese ပြင် (prang, “outside”).


瘧

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋawɢ): semantic 疒 + phonetic 虐 (OC *ŋawɢ).
Perhaps related to 虐 (OC *ŋawɢ, “to oppress, to coerce, to be violent”).
Compare Thai งก ๆ (ngók-ngók, “shivering, shaking (due to fever or fear)”), Thai หงก ๆ (ngòk-ngòk, “shivering (as from ague)”).

cog

(medicine) ague; malaria; intermittent fever and shivering


甥

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *sriŋ (“sister”), related by Coblin (1986) to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-riŋ ~ s-r(j)aŋ (“to live; to be alive; to give birth; raw; green”).
Cognate with Tibetan སྲིང་མོ (sring mo), Kinnauri riŋz, Jangshung śiŋ, Chinese 生 (OC *sʰleːŋ, *sreŋs, “life, birth”) and 姓 (OC *sleŋs, “family name”).


痞

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *prɯʔ, *brɯʔ, *pɯʔ): semantic 疒 + phonetic 否 (OC *brɯʔ, *pɯʔ).
"Protuberance"? > "enlargement of an abdominal organ; pain due to splenomegaly" > "[dialectal] abdominal tumour".

Han compound

enlargement or lump in the abdomen; in particular, splenomegaly or hepatomegaly

(traditional Chinese medicine) stuffiness, fullness and discomfort in the epigastrium; dyspepsia or constipation

(Eastern Min, Southern Min) scab; healed wound


痞

"Bad" > "obscene; ferocious; rascal". Its use is most prominent in dialects of Hubei and Hunan, and possibly originates from the ancient dialectal pronunciation of 匪 (“bad, evil, bandit”), same as Min Nan 歹 (phái(ⁿ), “bad”).
It may be the origin of some uses of 皮 (pí), for example 調皮 (“naughty”), 賴皮 (“shameless”) and 頑皮 (“naughty”).
The Cantonese pronunciation is probably due to confusion with 踎 (mau1, “to squat”), as this word is not native to Cantonese.

(dialectal) to act perversely; to behave like a hoodlum

(dialectal) to act shamelessly; to violate rules


湯

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l̥ʰaːŋ, *l̥ʰaːŋs, *hljaŋ): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 昜 (OC *laŋ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-la(w)ŋ (“steam; hot (liquid)”); compare Tibetan རླངས (rlangs, “steam, vapour; steamy”) (Bodman, 1980; STEDT).
Related to 盪 (OC *l̥ʰaːŋ, *l̥ʰaːŋs, *l'aːŋʔ, “basin for holding hot water for washing; wash basin”), 煬 (OC *laŋ, *laŋs, “to heat; to roast”) (Wang, 1982; Schuessler, 2007).

och-l

Tang of Shang, founder of the Shang Dynasty of China


疊

畾 + 宜 – a pile.
Originally as 曡, with 晶 (jīng) on top. Shuowen commented that the shape change was promoted by emperor of the short-lived Xin Dynasty, who deemed the use of three "suns" (日) in this character too empowering - compared to three "fields" (田).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g/l-t(y)ap (“fold, layer, pile up, repeat”). Cognate with 摺 (OC *ruːb, *ʔljob, “to fold”), 褶 (OC *ʔljob, *l'ɯːb, *ljub, *ɦljub, “lined dress”), Tibetan ལྟབ (ltab, “to fold, gather up, to lay or put together”), ལྡེབ (ldeb, “to bend round or back, to turn round, to double down”), ལྡབ (ldab, “to fold up, repeat, do again”), Burmese ထပ် (htap, “to stack, layer”) and Burmese လိပ် (lip, “to fold up, to roll up”) (STEDT).

cog

叠
曡
疉
畳
㬪
疂
𣆹
𤴁
迭
沓
叠

to fold over in layers; to pile up; to be piled up


痣

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjɯs): semantic 疒 + phonetic 志 (OC *tjɯs).


玩

Wutunhua: wan

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋoːns): semantic 玉 (“jade”) + phonetic 元 (OC *ŋon) – ancient toys made of jade.

Han compound

同朋友玩

去北京玩

to play; to hang out; to have a good time; to have fun; to spend time socially (e.g. with friends); to go out


畝

Originally written as 畮, a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mɯʔ): semantic 田 (“field”) + phonetic 每 (OC *mɯːʔ). The phonetic component 每 was later replaced with 又, now written as the new phonetic component 久 (OC *kʷlɯʔ). The component 十 was added above 田 in the Warring States period and was later corrupted into 亠 in clerical script.
Possibly Sino-Tibetan. Compare Tibetan རྨོ (rmo), རྨོས (rmos, “to plow”), རྨོད (rmod, “plowing”), རྨོན་པ (rmon pa, “plow-ox”), Karbi [Term?] (-mò, “classifier for strips of fields”) (Bodman, 1980; Baxter, 1992; Schuessler, 2007).
Schuessler (2007) also suggests a connection to an Austroasiatic root, whence Old Khmer cval (“to enter; to penetrate; (of animals) to copulate”), Khmu [script needed] (cmɔɔl, “to plant (rice) with a digging stick”), [script needed] (crmɔɔl, “digging stick”) (cf. Ferlus, 1987). The semantic development would be “digging stick” > “plowing” > “mu”. He also connects this to 牡 (OC *mɯwʔ, “male animal”); see there for more.

cog

亩
畂
畞
𤱑
畒
畆
𤱈
𠭇
𣢿
𤱔
畮

mu (a Chinese measuring unit currently equivalent to 666 and 2/3 m² in Mainland China)

One asked, ‘As for doing politics, is there something vital?’ Yangzi said, ‘To wish for and to loathe.’ […] One asked, ‘What to wish for? What to loathe?’ Yangzi said, ‘Treat others’ elderly as elderly, treat others’ orphans as orphans; nourish the sick and bury the dead; let men tend their croplands and let women tend the mulberry trees. This is what [I] called “to wish for”. If disrespect others’ elderly, distress others’ orphan, the sick gets alone and the dead gets [their bodies] exposed; croplands get deserted and looms get empty. This is what [I] called “to loathe”.’

Yang Xiong, Fa Yan (Exemplary Sayings), 9 CE

Huò wèn: “Wéi zhèng yǒu jī?” Yuē: “Sī yì.” […] Huò wèn: “Hé sī? Hé yì?” Yuē: “Lǎo rén lǎo, gū rén gū, bìngzhě yǎng, sǐzhě zàng, nánzǐ mǔ, fùrén sāng, zhī wèi sī. Ruò wū rén lǎo, qū rén gū, bìngzhě dú, sǐzhě pò, tiánmǔ huāng, zhùzhóu kōng, zhī wèi yì.”

或問：「為政有幾？」曰：「思斁。」[…] 或問：「何思？何斁？」曰：「老人老，孤人孤，病者養，死者葬，男子畝，婦人桑，之謂思。若污人老，屈人孤，病者獨，死者逋，田畝荒，杼軸空，之謂斁。」

或问：「为政有几？」曰：「思𭣧。」[…] 或问：「何思？何𭣧？」曰：「老人老，孤人孤，病者养，死者葬，男子亩，妇人桑，之谓思。若污人老，屈人孤，病者独，死者逋，田亩荒，杼轴空，之谓𭣧。」


瘥

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zlaːl, *ʔsljal, *sʰreːls): semantic 疒 + phonetic 差 (OC *sʰraːl, *sʰraːls, *sʰreːl, *sʰreːl, *sʰreːls, *sʰral).

Han compound

Heaven is continually redoubling its afflictions; Deaths and disorder increase and multiply

天方薦瘥、喪亂弘多。

天方荐瘥、丧乱弘多。


海

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (海):
* → Japanese: 海(かい) (kai)
* → Korean: 해(海) (hae)
* → Vietnamese: hải (海)

→ Bouyei: haaic

→ Zhuang: haij

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hmlɯːʔ): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 每 (OC *mɯːʔ).
Probably related to 晦 (OC *hmɯːs, “dark”); in numerous Zhou texts 海 is described as 晦 (Schuessler, 2007). Compare the parallelism in Chinese: 溟 (OC *meːŋ, *meːŋʔ, “ocean”) < 冥 (OC *meːŋ, “dark”).
STEDT compares 海 (OC *hmlɯːʔ) to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *muːŋ ~ r/s-muːk (“foggy; dark; sullen; menacing; thunder”).

inh

Hai Rui (Chinese scholar-official of the Ming dynasty)

海瑞

a surname. Hai (mainland China, Taiwan), Hoi (Hong Kong)


由

Sino-Xenic (由):
* → Vietnamese: do (由)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *lɯw): phonetic 十 (OC *ɡjub) + semantic 口 (“mouth”) – a container with on top the pictogram of a needle (十, today 針), to indicate the ancient pronunciation. Compare the bottom part of the original version of 缶, an earthenware pot. In oracle bones, 由 was used as the original version of 怞 (yóu or, in the less conservative pronunciation, chóu). See also 俞.
Otherwise, according to Tang Lan (唐蘭), it's the pictogram of a helmet. If a helmet, may have been the same as or original character of 冑. However, this alternative interpretation is less likely.

Han compound

身不由己

由他去吧！

由佢自己做啦！


癩

⇒ Tangwang: lɛ²⁴ > lɛ²⁴pa⁴⁴xa⁴²


療

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *rews): semantic 疒 (“disease”) + phonetic 尞 ().

Han compound

If [one] be obstinate, then [this is] a vital illness, [and] no drug could cure [this].

Ruò zhí zhī zhě, zé fùxīn zhī jí, wú yào kě liáo.

若執之者，則腹心之疾，無藥可療。

若执之者，则腹心之疾，无药可疗。


瓊

/t͡ɕʰi̯ʊŋ³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ʊŋ³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡʷeŋ): semantic 玉 (“jade”) + phonetic 夐 (OC *qʰʷeːns, *qʰʷeŋs).


產

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (產):
* → Japanese: 産(さん) (san)
* → Korean: 산(產) (san)
* → Vietnamese: sản (產)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sŋreːnʔ): abbreviated phonetic 彥 (OC *ŋrans) + semantic 生 (“to be born”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *srjal (“to breed; to bring up”), whence Tibetan སྲེལ (srel, “to bring up; to rear”).
Schuessler (2007) notes that this word is equally likely to have been Austroasiatic in origin. Compare Khmer សំរាល (sɑmraal, “to give birth”).

cog

produced or manufactured item; product; produce


癲

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tiːn): semantic 疒 (“illness”) + phonetic 顛 (OC *tiːn, *tʰiːns).

Han compound

癫
瘨
顛
⿰⿳十且八页

癲狗病

癫狗病


爺

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *laː): semantic 父 (“father”) + phonetic 耶 (OC *laː).
Vovin and McCraw (2011) compare it to Old Turkic [script needed] (uya, “relative”).

cog

(polite) grandpa; sir (term of address for an elderly man)

(archaic, honorific) sir (term of address for a rich or influential man)

(honorific) term of address for gods and the Buddha


狐

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡʷaː): semantic 犭 (“dog”) + phonetic 瓜 (OC *kʷraː).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *gwa (“fox”). Cognate with Tibetan ཝ (wa, “fox”).


症

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjɯŋs): semantic 疒 (“disease”) + phonetic 正 (OC *tjeŋ, *tjeŋs).
Alternative form of 證／证 (zhèng).

Han compound

to see three or four patients in an hour

jat¹ go³ zung¹ tai² saam¹ sei³ go³ zing³

一個鐘睇三四個症

一个钟睇三四个症

(Cantonese) case; patient (Classifier: 個／个 c)


盻

Why did he glare at [his] little sister?

ĭ ká̤-sié hā̤ nâung-nâung-muói / [i⁵⁵ kʰɛ²¹³⁻⁵³ ⁽ˢ⁻⁾liɛ²¹³ hɛ³³ nˡouŋ²⁴²⁻²¹ nˡouŋ²⁴²⁻⁵³ mui²¹³]

伊傒勢盻嫩嫩妹？

伊傒势盻嫩嫩妹？

(literary or Eastern Min) angrily stare at, glare at


畀

In the oracle bone script, it was a pictogram (象形) of an arrow with a flat arrowhead (cf. 矢, an arrow) – original character of 錍 (OC *pʰeː, *pe, “arrow with a flat arrowhead”).
In the bronze script, a dot was added to the centre, which later became a short line. The bottom of the glyph eventually corrupted into 廾 or 丌. On the basis of the latter shape, Shuowen erroneously interprets the character as a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pids): phonetic 甶 (OC *pɯd) + semantic 丌 (“pedestal”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-bəj-n/k (“to give”). Other cognates within the same Sinitic word family include 賓／宾 (bīn, “guest”), 嬪／嫔 (pín, “court lady, palace maid”), 殯／殡 (bìn, “laying a coffin”); outside of Sinitic, cognate with Tibetan སྦྱིན (sbyin, “to give, to bestow”), Burmese ပေး (pe:, “to give”) (STEDT).

cog

畁
𢌿
𢍁
𢍉
𢮅
𢮧
俾
比
捭

The teacher doesn't let us drink water during class.

lou⁵ si¹ m⁴ bei² ngo⁵ dei⁶ soeng⁵ gan² tong⁴ go² si⁴ jam² seoi².

老師唔畀我哋上緊堂嗰時飲水。

老师唔畀我哋上紧堂嗰时饮水。


盍

Original form of 蓋. Pictogram (象形), a container and its lid.
From the fusion of 何不 (OC *ɡaːl pɯ, “why not”).

The Master said, "Why don't each of you talk about your aspirations?"

子曰：「盍各言爾志？」

子曰：「盍各言尔志？」

A man visited Mozi's school. Mozi said: Why not come and study?

Yǒu yóu yú Zǐ Mòzǐ zhī mén zhě, Zǐ Mòzǐ yuē: “Hé xué hū?”

有游於子墨子之門者，子墨子曰：「盍學乎？」

有游于子墨子之门者，子墨子曰：「盍学乎？」


疾

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 疒 (“illness”) + 矢 (“arrow”).
The oracle glyph depicts a person being hit by an arrow.
Perhaps from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-(t)sik (“to burn, itch; angry”), to which 堲 (OC *ʔsiɡ, *ʔsɯɡ, *zɯɡ, “coaled part of a burning torch”) has also been connected. Outside of Sinitic, compare Tibetan ཚིག (tshig, “to burn, glow, be inflamed”), as well as perhaps Burmese ချစ် (hkyac, “burnt”) (STEDT).

cog

(obsolete or dialectal Hakka) to ache; to be painful


畏

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意).
In oracle bone script form, this character depicts a ghost 鬼 (guǐ) standing and holding a stick. (Hsiao-ting Li)
The small seal glyph was analysed by Shuo Wen as a ghost head (甶 (fú)) with part of a tiger, including its claw. However, the version on oracle bones is different.

𠂽
𤰣
𤰰
𤰲
𤰴
𤰵
𤱖
𤱫
𪽉
𰢼

畏難

畏难

They are so afraid of walking in the night.

梅县客家方言标准音词典 p. 279

佢好畏行夜路。

The people do not fear death; to what purpose is it to (try to) frighten them with death?

民不畏死，奈何以死懼之？

民不畏死，奈何以死惧之？


甜

Characters in the same phonetic series (甜) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 舌 (“tongue”) + 甘 (“sweet”). Rearrangement of 甛.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ljam (“sweet; fragrant”) (STEDT). Compare Tibetan ཞིམ (zhim, “tasty”) (Coblin, 1986; Schuessler, 2007; Hill, 2019).

inh

甛
䑚
𭥹
䣶
餂
𩚵
𥑠
𦧩


疣

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷɯ): semantic 疒 (“disease”) + phonetic 尤 (OC *ɢʷɯ).


疑

Chu (state)
Duan Yucai
Mawangdui
Qin (state)
Shuowen
Western Zhou

Originally an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 大 or 文 (“standing human figure”) + 夂 (“tilted head with open mouth”) + 丨 (“cane”) – a man with a cane looking around with his mouth wide open, not know where to go – to be confused; to doubt. Compare: 欠 and 既, both showing the "open-mouth" component but on a seated figure. In the oracle bone script and bronze inscriptions, 彳 or 辵 = 彳 + 止 (“foot; toes”) was often added to indicate travelling or movement.
Various components were added later, e.g. 牛 in the bronze script of Western Zhou, 子 in the Qin-style scripts including the proto-clerical script, and 乙 in the early clerical script of Western Han. Meanwhile the main graphical element showing a standing figure eventually became 𠤕 or sometimes 矣 as in the Chu-style script (shown in the table). The Chu also added a 心 (“heart”) component indicating "the mind".
The Shuowen, in which headwords were written in the Qin-style seal script, interpreted the character as “a child standing on an obstructed road to compare the paths”: semantic 子 (“child”) + semantic 止 (“to be obstructed”) + semantic 匕 (“to compare”) + phonetic 矢 (OC *hliʔ). Duan Yucai's commentary on Shuowen offered an alternative interpretation, pointing out that 矢 was unlikely to have a the phonetic component: semantic 子 (“child”) + semantic 𠤕 (“uncertain”) + phonetic 止 (OC *kjɯʔ). However, it is unlikely that any of the currently extant components had once indicated the pronunciation. Zhengzhang (2003) conjectured that the 子 was a corruption of 牛 (OC *ŋʷɯ) that had been the phonetic component.
The current form is derived from the Qin–Han clerical scripts, where on the right-hand side the elements 子 + 止 or 子 + 乙 have recombined into 龴 + 疋.
Perhaps related to 礙 (OC *ŋɯːs, “to obstruct”) (Schuessler, 2007); Cf. Proto-Tibeto-Burman *ʔ/N-g(r)ak (“to block; to obstruct”) (STEDT, provisional).

(～母) (Chinese linguistics) the Middle Chinese initial of 疑 (MC ngi)


皓

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡuːʔ): semantic 白 (“white”) + phonetic 告 (OC *kuːɡs, *kuːɡ).
Compare Proto-Tai *xaːwᴬ (“white”) (whence Zhuang hau and Thai ขาว (kǎao)) and Proto-Hlai *kʰaːw (“white”) (Matisoff, 1988).

Han compound

Alternative form of 昊 (hào, “vast (of the sky)”)


眸

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mu): semantic 目 + phonetic 牟 (OC *mu).


眈

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔl'uːm, *ʔl'uːmʔ, *l'uːm): semantic 目 (“eye”) + phonetic 冘 (OC *lu, *lum).


癮

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qɯn): semantic 疒 + phonetic 隱 (OC *qɯnʔ, *qɯns).

Han compound

2021, “反對無效 [Overruled]”, 陳詠謙 [Chan Wing Him] (lyrics), 馮允謙 [Jay Fung] and Cameron Browne (music)performed by 張天賦 [MC]:

How did God create this kind of attraction? My love for you has started to become an addiction. I cannot give this excitement up.

san⁴ jyu⁴ ho⁴ zou⁶ ceot¹ ze² zung² kap¹ jan⁵, ngo⁵ oi³ nei⁵ ji⁵ hoi¹ ci² bin³ sing⁴ jan⁵, ngo⁵ gaai³ bat¹ dou³⁻² ze² zung² hing¹ fan⁵

神如何做出這種吸引 我愛你已開始變成癮 我戒不到這種興奮

神如何做出这种吸引 我爱你已开始变成瘾 我戒不到这种兴奋


瘡

→ Proto-Hmong-Mien: *tshaŋᴬ

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯ɑŋ⁵⁵/

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯ɑŋ⁵⁵/

Same word as 創 (OC *sʰraŋ, “wound”) (Wang, 1982).

sore; skin ulcer; boil (Classifier: 個／个 m; 塊／块 m; 粒 c)


略

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡ·raɡ): semantic 田 (“field”) + phonetic 各 (OC *klaːɡ) – to walk around a field (to outline it).
;"to plunder, to pillage"
:掠 (lüè) is a graphic variant of this sense.
;"sharp"
;"to trace out; to measure (an area); to plan; plan, method; boundary, frontier"
;"outline, sketch, strategy, summary, brief"
;"to omit, to leave out"


牙

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (牙):
* → Japanese: 牙(げ) (ge); 牙(が) (ga)
* → Korean: 아(牙) (a)
* → Vietnamese: nha (牙)

→ Proto-Tai: *ŋaːᴬ (“tusk, ivory”)

Thai: งา (ngaa)

Lao: ງາ (ngā)

Lü: ᦇᦱ (ngaa)

Shan: ငႃး (ngáa)

Ahom: 𑜂𑜠 (ṅa)

→ Proto-Vietic: *ŋaː (“ivory”)

Vietnamese: ngà

The pictogram of a pair of elephant tusks. According to Xu Shen, this pictogram was used to indicate human molars but not front teeth/incisors (齒).
Norman and Mei (1976) propose that this was a substrate loan; cf. Proto-Vietic *ŋaː (“ivory”) (Vietnamese ngà), Proto-Tai *ŋaːᴬ (“tusk; ivory”) (Thai งา (ngaa)). Pulleyblank (1983) disagrees with their hypothesis and considers Old Chinese to be the donor of this Wanderwort instead.
STEDT provisionally sets up Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ŋja (“tusk; tooth”), comparing it to Mizo ngho (“tusk; fang”), Manipuri ꯌꯥ (yaa, “tooth”), Mru [script needed] (hngou, “tooth”), Pa'o Karen [script needed] (tə́ʔ ŋà, “tooth”).
; Hong Kong Cantonese neologism prefix

cog

(Hong Kong Cantonese, Internet slang, leetspeak, neologism) Prefix used in front of the surname or last character of someone’s given name to express familiarity or friendliness.


申

Characters in the same phonetic series (申) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) — a bolt of lightning. Original character of 電 (OC *l'iːns, “lightning”) and 神 (OC *hlin, “god; deity; spirit”).
; “to extend; to state; to request; to announce; again”
; 9th earthly branch
: For its association with the monkey, compare Proto-Tai *liːŋᴬ (“monkey”), Proto-Hmong *ʔlinᴬ (“monkey”), and Proto-Mien *ʔbiŋᴬ (“monkey”).
; “Shanghai”

Han etyl

𢑚
𦥔
伸
𤰶
𠭙
𦦀
𠭜

ninth of twelve earthly branches (十二支)
monkey of the Chinese zodiac

ninth of twelve earthly branches (十二支)
3 to 5 p.m.

ninth of twelve earthly branches (十二支)
seventh month of the Chinese calendar

(～國) Shen (vassal state during the Zhou dynasty)

Alternative name for 上海 (Shànghǎi, “Shanghai”).


盼

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰrɯːns): semantic 目 + phonetic 分 (OC *pɯn, *bɯns).

Han compound

(archaic, of the eyes) with pupils and whites clearly separated; clear and bright


盧

Originally a pictogram (象形) – an oven. 虍 and 皿 were added in the bronze inscriptions, and the oven pictogram came to be written 田, making the current form a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *b·raː): phonetic 虍 (OC *qʰaː) + semantic 田 (“pictogram of an oven”) + semantic 皿 (“vessel”). This sense (“oven”) is now represented by the character 爐／炉 (lú).


盞

Sino-Xenic (盞):
* → Korean: 잔(盞) (jan)

→ Vietnamese: chén

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsreːnʔ): phonetic 戔 (OC *zlaːn) + semantic 皿 (“vessel”).

Han compound

Classifier for lamps, lanterns, or cups of drink.


眷

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *krons): phonetic 龹 () + semantic 目 (“eye”).

Han compound

親眷

亲眷

眷屬

眷属

February 2018, 臺灣歷史地圖 增訂版, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 48, column 1

Wǔzhí rényuán yěshì sān nián yī huàn. Guānbīng dōu bùzhǔn xī juàn lái Tái, chú shǎoshù lìwài.

武職人員也是三年一換。官兵都不准攜眷來臺，除少數例外。

武职人员也是三年一换。官兵都不准携眷来台，除少数例外。


球

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (球):
* → Japanese: 球(きゅう) (kyū)
* → Korean: 구(球) (gu)
* → Vietnamese: cầu (球)

→ Zhuang: giuz

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɤʊ̯ɻʷ³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯əu̯¹³/

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɤʊ̯ɻʷ³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯əu̯¹³/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡu): semantic 玉 (“jade”) + phonetic 求 (OC *ɡu).
"Ball", earlier some "kind of jade". Bodman (1980) relates this to Wuming Zhuang klauᴬ² (“ball”), and relates 俅 (qiú, “gem-adorned”) to Tibetan གྲུ (gru, “lustre of gems”). This character had a softened initial in Proto-Min.
Originally written as 毬 (since Tang dynasty). The form 球 (since Qing dynasty) is now more common.

Han compound

(botany) Short for 仙人球 (xiānrénqiú, “ball-shaped cactus”).

Short for 球根 (qiúgēn, “bulb, corm, tuber”).


樂

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 糸 (“string”) + 木 (“wood”) – strings on a piece of wood, i.e. a wooden musical instrument.
The oracle bone form shows two strings connected to the wood. In the bronze inscriptions, a 白 (OC *braːɡ) component was added in between the two strings, which may either represent the thumb (fiddling) or a phonetic part.
; “music; joyful”
: Also comparable is Middle Khmer leṅa (“to play”) and bhleṅa (“(playing) music”), whence Thai เล่น (lên, “to play”) and เพลง (pleeng, “music”).

樂亭

乐亭

樂陵

乐陵


甕

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qoːŋs): phonetic 雍 (OC *qoŋ, *qoŋs) + semantic 瓦 (“earthenware”).
Probably Sino-Tibetan (Unger, 1999; Schuessler, 2007; STEDT). STEDT reconstructs Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ʔəw-ŋ (“pot; vat; jar”) provisionally.
Within Chinese, compare 甌 (OC *qoː, “small bowl; small cup”), 碗 (OC *qoːnʔ, “bowl”), 罌 (OC *qreːŋ, “earthen jar”), 盎 (OC *qaːŋʔ, *qaːŋs, “earthen jar”), 癰 (OC *qoŋ, “carbuncle; ulcer”) (Wang, 1982; Schuessler, 2007; STEDT).
Also compare Tibetan གཞོང (gzhong, “basin; tub; bowl”), Lepcha ᰈᰨᰵᰕᰨ (joŋ-mo, “bucket, tub”), Proto-Loloish *ʔ-loŋ² (“pot”) (Unger, 1999).


煙

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qiːn): semantic 火 (“fire”) + phonetic 垔 (OC *qin).

Han compound

烟
菸
𠖣
𤎟
𡨾
𠖜
𤏯
烟
烟
菸

The chimney blew out a cloud of black smoke.

煙囪裡噴出一團黑煙。

烟囱里喷出一团黑烟。

smoke; mist; vapour (Classifier: 陣／阵 m c; 團／团 m; 縷／缕 m c; 層／层 m c)

把煙滅了。

把烟灭了。

他給我捲了一支煙。

他给我卷了一支烟。

cigarette (Classifier: 支 m c; 根 m; 飛／飞 c)

虎門銷煙

虎门销烟


癢

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *laŋʔ): semantic 疒 (“illness”) + phonetic 養 (OC *laŋʔ, *laŋs).
Probably from Proto-Sino-Tibetan, though the exact etymon is unclear. Compare Tibetan གཡའ (g.ya', “to itch”), Jingpho kaya (“to itch”), Burmese ယား (ya:, “to itch”), Japhug rɤʑa (“to itch”) (Schuessler, 2007; Baxter and Sagart, 2017; Zhang, Jacques and Lai, 2019), which STEDT derives from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-ja (“to itch”). Also compare Lepcha ᰚᰭ (yak, “to itch”) (Schuessler, 2007), which STEDT derives from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-sak (“to itch”).

Han compound

撓癢

挠痒

我這兒很癢。

我这儿很痒。


盒

/hap̚²¹⁻²¹⁵/

/hap̚²¹⁻²¹⁵/

From 合 (OC *ɡuːb, “to be together; to close”) (Schuessler, 2007).

och-l

用個盒裝住啲錢

用个盒装住啲钱

box; case (generally small, with a lid) (Classifier: 個／个 c)


睹

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *taːʔ): semantic 目 + phonetic 者 (OC *tjaːʔ).
Proposed to be cognate with Tibetan ལྟ (lta, “to look at, to see”) (LaPolla, 1994), which is derived from Proto-Bodic *l-ta-s/t (“to see, to look”) (STEDT). It has also been connected with Proto-Tai *p.taːᴬ (“eye”) (Unger, 1990).

Han compound

Let me labour and not be remembered;
Let me suffer and not be regarded.

1930, 倪柝聲 (Watchman Nee), 《讓我愛》 (“Let Me Love and Not Be Respected”)

Ràng wǒ jìnlì ér bù bèi rén jì, ràng wǒ shòukǔ ér bù bèi rén dǔ.

讓我盡力而不被人記，讓我受苦而不被人睹。

让我尽力而不被人记，让我受苦而不被人睹。


甘

Ideogram (指事) – something (perhaps sweet) in an open mouth; the original drawing is 𠁿. Original form of 含. See also 敢, 旨, 香, and 音.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-klum (“sweet”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT). Cognate with Mizo thlum, Lepcha [script needed] (khlyam).
Possibly related to 含 (OC *ɡɯːm, “to keep in mouth”) and 甜 (OC *l'iːm, “sweet”), 柑 (MC kam, “mandarin orange”) (Schuessler, 2007).

𠙿
𠁿
𠮚
𤮺
𠙸
𭺪
𭺫
㤌

甘甜

甘蔗


登

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 癶 (“left and right feet”) + 豆 (“pictogrammic of raised object; stepping stone”). The two hands at the bottom disappeared, but they are retained in the conservative variant 𤼷.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-tjaŋ (“top; to rise; to raise”) (STEDT). Cf. 陟 (OC *tɯɡ) (Wang, 1923) < *l-t(j)ak (“to ascend”).

inh

(historical) to succeed in imperial examinations


皿

Pictogram (象形) A pictograph of an empty container, such as a chalice. The handles are conjoined in the modern form.

培養皿

培养皿


痕

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡɯːn): semantic 疒 + phonetic 艮 (OC *kɯːns).


督

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔl'uːwɢ): phonetic 叔 (OC *hljɯwɢ) + semantic 目 (“eye”) – to look over, to oversee (with eyes).

Han compound

督查

^⁜ (literary or Cantonese, Mainland China Hokkien) to supervise; to superintend; to oversee


甸

Characters in the same phonetic series (田) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'iːŋs) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): semantic 人 (“person”) + phonetic 田 (OC *l'iːŋ, “field”).
Exopassive of 田 (OC *l'iːŋ, “field”), literally "what is being/has been cultivated" (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

(literary) field; open country; used in place names, chiefly in Yunnan and North-Eastern China


睦

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mluɡ): semantic 目 (“eyes”) + phonetic 坴 (OC *m·ruɡ).


盾

Pictogram (象形) — a shield (in the oracle bone script). Note that under the 𠂆 is not 直 - one less stroke here. See also 古, perhaps a differentiation of 盾.
; “shield”
; “dong”
; “guilder; gulden; rupiah”


睭

睭 (Kangxi radical 109, 目+8, 13 strokes, cangjie input 月山月土口 (BUBGR), four-corner 6702₀, composition ⿰目周)


疏

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sŋra, *sŋras): phonetic 疋 (OC *ŋraːʔ, *sŋra, *sŋraʔ) + semantic 㐬.


盈

Uncertain. Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 夃 + 皿 (“vessel”). Meaning of the 夃 component is unclear.
Compare Proto-Tibeto-Burman *(p/b)liŋ (“full; fill”), whence Chepang ब्लीङ्सा (bliŋ‑, “to be full; fill”), Burmese ပြည့် (prany., “to be full”), Burmese ဖြည့် (hprany., “to add”) (Schuessler, 2007, STEDT). An allofam is perhaps 孕 (OC *lɯŋs, “pregnant”), as well as 填 (OC *diːn, *diːns, *tin, *tins, “to fill up”) (Schuessler, 2007). Despite STEDT's suggestion, 贏 (OC *leŋ, “surplus, profit; to win”) is probably not related, in light of Baxter and Sagart's later Old Chinese reconstruction.

och-l

車馬盈門

车马盈门

When our barns are full,
And our stacks can be counted by tens of myriads.

我倉既盈，我庾維憶。

我仓既盈，我庾维忆。

Grace He freely gives me, causing my eyes to be filled with tears.

2006, 劉殷傑 [Jackie Lau], 數算奇異恩典 [Count His Grace]

jan¹ din² baak⁶ baak⁶ kap¹ jyu⁵, ling⁶ ngo⁵ jing⁴ leoi⁶ ngaan⁵ zyu¹.

恩典白白給予，令我盈淚眼珠。

恩典白白给予，令我盈泪眼珠。

to fill; to be full of; to be filled with


疼

Unclear. Possibly from 聽 (OC *l̥ʰeːŋs, “to allow > to love”) (Li and Chen, 1991).

(Eastern Min, Southern Min) painful; aching; sore

Lord, You never give me up, never look away [official translation]
Lord, You love me as a treasure, never give me up [literal translation]

2014, 讚美之泉 (Stream of Praise), lyricist 王迪森 (Dickson Wang), 主祢的疼 (Lord, It's Your Love)

Chú Lí thiàⁿ góa chòe pó-pòe, m̄-bat pàng-sak góa

主祢疼我作寶貝，不曾放棄我

主祢疼我作宝贝，不曾放弃我

(Eastern Min, Southern Min) to love; to cherish


瞬

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hljuns): semantic 目 (“eye”) + phonetic 舜 (OC *hljuns).


甚

Characters in the same phonetic series (甚) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Shuowen: Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 甘 + 匹.
STEDT considers it to be from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *l-(t/d)jam (“full; flat; straight”) and cognate with 斟 (OC *kljum, “to pour”), 淫 (OC *lɯm, “excessive”) and Tibetan གཏམས (gtams, “to fill up”).


瘦

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *srus): semantic 疒 + phonetic 叟 (OC *suːʔ).

Han compound

(of a person or animal) thin; slender; skinny


盅

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tʰuŋ, *duŋ, *tjoŋ): phonetic 中 (OC *tuŋ, *tuŋs) + semantic 皿 (“dish; vessel”).
From 鍾 (OC *tjoŋ, “goblet”).

Han compound

(Hainanese) drinkware; cup (in general, with or without a handle)

一盅米酒

a cup of rice with chicken feet and spareribs

jat¹ zung¹ fung⁶ zaau² paai⁴ gwat¹ faan⁶

一盅鳳爪排骨飯

一盅凤爪排骨饭

Classifier for the amount of liquid or objects in a handleless cup.


癌

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 疒 + phonetic 嵒 (OC *ŋrɯːm, *ŋjab); 嵒／岩 (yán) is a variant of 岩 (yán).
From 岩 (yán, “cliff; rock, stone”), since some cancers present as lumps or outgrowths on the body.
In Mandarin, this character used to be pronounced identically as 岩 (yán). Its pronunciation was changed to ái in December 1962 to avoid the homophony between 癌 (yán, “cancer”) and 炎 (yán, “inflammation”) (compare 肺炎 (fèiyán, “pneumonia”) and 肺癌 (fèi'ái, “lung cancer”)). The new pronunciation ái stems from dialectal pronunciations of 岩 (“rock; cliff”) /ŋai/, influenced by 崖 (yá, yái, “cliff”).

癌症

致癌

肺癌

直男癌


畜

Pictogram (象形): 玄 (“rope tying the bag of feed”) + 田 (“bag of feed”) – a bag of feed, hence livestock.
Alternatively, 玄 (“rope”) + 田 or 囿 (“pen; fold; enclosure”) – tying animals and raising them in the enclosure.
“To raise; to rear (an animal)” (*–k) > “domesticated animal; livestock” (*–k–s, exopassive: “what has been raised”). The various pronunciations in Old and Middle Chinese have been confused or merged in many extant dialects.
Etymology unknown. Probably from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *hu (“to be born; birth; to rear”), and thus may be related to 好 (OC *qʰuːʔ, *qʰuːs, “good; to like”) (Matisoff). Alternatively, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kruŋ (“to live; alive; to be born; to give birth; green; sprout”), whence Tibetan འཁྲུང ('khrung, “to be born; to arise; to sprout”) (Schuessler, 2007).
Zhengzhang (2015) relates Tibetan ལུག (lug, “sheep”) to this word; this would be parallel to 羊 (OC *laŋ, “sheep”) ?~ 養 (OC *laŋʔ, *laŋs, “to rear”) (Sagart, 1999). In Sagart (1999), 畜 is related to 育 (OC *luɡ, “to nourish”) and 鞠 (OC *kuɡ, *kʰuɡ, *ɡuɡ, “to rear”).

cog

嘼
𠬀
𤛅
𤠕
𤲸
蓄
𠾧

Alternative form of 蓄 (xù, “to store up; to accumulate”)


畜

嘼
𠬀
𤛅
𤠕
𤲸
蓄
𠾧

家畜

livestock; domesticated animal; farm animal


瞞

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *moːn) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): semantic 目 (“eye”) + phonetic 㒼 (, “to cover something carefully and tightly without a break”).

Han compound

欺瞞／欺瞒

隱瞞／隐瞒

不瞞您說／不瞒您说

You two have been dating for two years? How come you've been keeping that from us for so long?

jyun⁴ loi⁴ nei⁵ dei⁶ loeng⁵ go³ paak³ zo² to¹ loeng⁵ nin⁴ gaa⁴ laa⁴? zou⁶ me¹ mun⁴ zyu⁶ ngo⁵ dei⁶ gam³ noi⁶ aa³?

原來你哋兩個拍咗拖兩年㗎啦？做咩瞞住我哋咁耐啊？

原来你哋两个拍咗拖两年㗎啦？做咩瞒住我哋咁耐啊？


烏

Pictogram (象形) – a bird. Compare 鳥 (“bird”), of similar development. See also the original version of its variant 於.
; “crow; black; dark”
: Schuessler (2007) considers it to be onomatopoeic, and compares it with Proto-Loloish *akᴸ (“crow”).
: “Black; dark” is a semantic extension of “crow” – “black as a crow”. Compare 黑 (OC *hmlɯːɡ, “black”), which is cognate with 墨 (OC *mlɯːɡ, “ink”).
; “sun”
; interrogative pronoun

† - usually describes the color of cloth or thread

俄烏戰爭

俄乌战争


汝

Proto-Kam-Sui language
Southern Kam language
Sui language

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *njaʔ): semantic 水 (“river; water”) + phonetic 女 (OC *naʔ, *nas).
Probably related to Proto-Kam-Sui *Ɂnjaᴬ (“river”), whence Southern Kam nyal (“river”), Sui qnyal (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

(～水, ～河) Ru River, a northern tributary of the Huai River in modern-day southern Henan province. The name also refers to the Hong River in its lower reaches, which now shares a common course with the Ru, as well as a southern tributary of the Hong.


瓶

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (瓶):
* → Japanese: 瓶(びん) (bin)
* → Korean: 병(甁) (byeong)
* → Vietnamese: bình (瓶)

→ Bouyei: bingz

→ Zhuang: bingz

/pʰɛːŋ²¹⁻¹³/

/pʰiaŋ²²⁻²¹/

/pʰɛːŋ²¹⁻¹³/

/pʰiaŋ²²⁻²¹/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *beːŋ): phonetic 并 (OC *peŋ, *peŋs) + semantic 瓦 (“earthenware”). According to the radical, it originally indicates an earthenware vessel, i.e., not a glass bottle. It had a long slender neck opening up to a narrow mouth. However, 瓶 was also part of ritual bronzes in ancient China, hence it was made of bronze when used during rituals.
Today, it indicates bottles of any kind and dimension.
Austroasiatic; compare Khmer ពីង (piing, “swollen, potbellied, earthen water pot”) (Schuessler, 2007).

cog

瓶子

花瓶

熱水瓶

热水瓶


子

Characters in the same phonetic series (子) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – an image of a baby, with a large head and spread arms. The legs are wrapped in a blanket. Compare with 了, where the arms are wrapped, and 㜽, in which a lock of hair is visible on top. Compare also 棄 and 毓, in which the image of the baby is reversed upside-down.
The big seal script form is much more elaborate, showing a baby with hair on a head (囟) and arms on the two sides of the body, sitting on a stool (几).
See also the right component of 保.
;child
:From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tsa ~ za (“child, offspring, relatives; to come forth (as child at birth); to love; loving”).
:Cognate with 字 (OC *zlɯs, “character; letter”), 慈 (OC *zɯ, “loving; kind”), 滋 (OC *ʔsɯ, “to grow, to breed, to propagate, to bring about, to increase”), 孳 (OC *ʔsɯ, *zɯs, “to breed, to propagate”).
;first earthly branch
:In oracle bone and Western Zhou bronze inscriptions, 子 was the sixth earthly branch; the first earthly branch was denoted differently. One of the forms survived in Shuo Wen (𢀇) (Matsumaru, 2015).
:Smith (2011) proposed this character is 甾. Observing that 甾 is closely linked with 緇 "dark, stained", 淄 "murky (water)", 菑 "field cleared by burning" (all pronounced *tsrə), Smith (2011) proposes that initially the first earthly branch 甾 (OC *ts[r]əʔ) denoted the new moon phase and meant "darkened, voided, the darkened stage". Additionally, Smith (2011) proposes that 子 (OC tsəʔ), which originated from a Sino-Tibetan root meaning "to come forth", denoted the moon's "coming forth" stage (i.e. early waning-gibbous phase).
:Sometime in Warring States period, a change occured that 子 became the first earthly branch and 巳 (OC *s-ləʔ) filled the void of the sixth earthly branch (Matsumaru, 2015), "due to phonological closeness (combined with the semantic opacity of the Branch terms at later eras)" (Smith, 2011).
:Association with the rat was possibly arbitrary, analogous to how 辰, the fifth earthly branch, was arbitrarily associated with the dragon (Ferlus, 2013).

och-l

㜽
𡿹
𡐫
𣕓
𰱤
𢀇
𢀈
𠙭
𢀉

(astrology) First earthly branch: rat in the Chinese zodiac, 11th solar month, midnight (11:00 pm to 1:00 am)


盡

Sino-Xenic (盡):
* → Vietnamese: tận (盡)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 聿 (“hand holding a brush”) + 灬 (“bristles”) + 皿 (“dish”) – cleaning a dish with a brush – empty.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *dzin (“to exhaust; to come to an end”). Cognate with Tibetan ཟིན (zin, “to be finished; to draw near an end”).

cog

盡最大的努力

尽最大的努力

to do something with all one's heart and all one's might

盡心竭力

尽心竭力

to exhaust; to use to the fullest extent


矬

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zoːl): semantic 矢 (“arrow”) + phonetic 坐 (OC *zoːlʔ, *zoːls).


皺

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsrus): phonetic 芻 (OC *sʰro) + semantic 皮.

Han compound

皺褶

皱褶

皺紋

皱纹

皺眉

皱眉


睏

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 目 (“eye”) + phonetic 困 (OC *kʰuːns).

Why is the moon so bright today? It's shining so brightly, I can't sleep

Kin-á-li̍t goe̍h-niû ná hiah-nī ^([sic]) kng, chiò-tio̍h gún kui-mî lóng bē-tang khùn

今仔日月娘那這呢^([sic])光 照著阮歸暝攏袂當睏

今仔日月娘那这呢^([sic])光 照着阮归暝拢袂当困


硋

硋 (Kangxi radical 112, 石+6, 11 strokes, cangjie input 一口卜女人 (MRYVO), composition ⿰石亥)


矺

Alternative form of 磔 (zhé, “torture in the form of dismemberment”)


矛

Characters in the same phonetic series (矛) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
The pictogram of a bamboo spear with a ring in the middle. Unrelated to 予.


砧

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔl'ɯm): semantic 石 + phonetic 占 (OC *ʔljem, *tjems).

Han compound

(Hakka) to hold one's hands in closed fists and to strike with phalanx


玉

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (玉):
* → Japanese: 玉(ぎょく) (gyoku)
* → Korean: 옥(玉) (ok)
* → Vietnamese: ngọc (玉)

→ Indonesian: giok (via Min Nan)

→ Thai: หยก (yòk)

The character's shape was historically very similar to 王; a dot was introduced to differentiate the two.
Pictogram (象形): a picture of a cong (琮), a sort of ritual jade totem.
It is also interpreted as three pieces of jade strung together on a string.
STEDT compares it to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-lu(ŋ/k) (“stone”), which is also compared to 琭 (OC *roːɡ, “a kind of precious stone”) and 碭 (OC *l'aːŋ, *l'aːŋs, “brilliant veined stone”).

och-l

一塊玉

一块玉

玉佩 ― yùpèi ― jaden pendant

玉石俱焚

the good and the bad perish together (literally, “jade and stone incinerated together”)

彼其之子，美如玉。

jade (originally nephrite, now also including jadeite)

玉容

亭亭玉立

錦衣玉食／锦衣玉食

玉照

(Cantonese, borrowing) Alternative form of 肉

玉冰燒 w:zh:玉冰燒


留

In bronze inscriptions, phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *m·ru, *m·rus): phonetic 卯 (OC *mruːʔ) + semantic 田 (“field”). Later in small seal script, phonetic 丣 (OC *luʔ) + semantic 田.

Han compound

畄
畱
㽞
𤰛
𤱊
𬎿
𢕍
𢔲

to keep; to save; to hold in reserve; to retain; to maintain

留美

Short for 留學／留学 (liúxué, “to study abroad”).


留

畄
畱
㽞
𤰛
𤱊
𬎿
𢕍
𢔲


痴

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (痴):
* → Japanese: 痴(ち) (chi)
* → Korean: 치(痴) (chi)
* → Vietnamese: si (痴)


益

Sino-Xenic (益):
* → Japanese: 益(えき) (eki); 益(やく) (yaku)
* → Korean: 익(益) (ik)
* → Vietnamese: ích (益)

desc

→ Thai: อีก (ìik, “again, (do something) more”)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 水 (“water”) + 皿 (“vessel”). Original form of 溢 (OC *liɡ, “to overflow”). Upper component resembles 氺 (“water”) in a horizontal form.
Compare 易.
Bodman (1980) relates it to Tibetan སྐྱེད (skyed, “growth; increase; profit; to generate”), སྐྱེ (skye, “to be born”).


琴

→ Burmese: ခင် (hkang)

→ English: qin

→ Thai: ขิม (kǐm) (via Min Nan)

/kʰim²²⁻²²⁵/

/kʰim²²⁻²²⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡrɯm): semantic 珡 + phonetic 今 (OC *krɯm).

Han compound

珡
𤦡
𤩟
琹
𨨖
𨪖
𩰔
䦦
𤫍
𨫹
䥅
䥆
𤫒

(music) qin (“Chinese zithers”), referring to any of several traditional Chinese musical instruments, most famously the guqin

Xiang entered Shun's room, and found Shun on his bed playing the zither.

Xiàng wǎng rù Shùn gōng, Shùn zài chuáng qín.

象往入舜宮，舜在床琴。

象往入舜宫，舜在床琴。

口琴 ― kǒuqín ― harmonica

風琴／风琴

馬頭琴／马头琴

(music) collective name for certain musical instruments, usually of string or keyboard types, such as piano, organ, violin, cello, huqin, accordion, harmonica, etc.

三角琴

練琴／练琴 [Cantonese] ― lin⁶ kam⁴ [Jyutping] ― to practise playing the piano

I learned to play the piano for two years.

我學過兩年琴。

我学过两年琴。

(music, specifically) piano (Classifier: 部 c)


無

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (無):
* → Japanese: 無(む) (mu); 無(ぶ) (bu)
* → Korean: 무(無) (mu)
* → Vietnamese: vô (無)

→ Peranakan Indonesian: bo

Characters in the same phonetic series (無) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形). A shaman dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain. In some conservative variants such as 𣞤, two branches similar to 林 are visible at the bottom, however the two objects held in hand as seen on oracle bones are different from a pair of 木.
This character is borrowed for “have no”, and the character 舞 (wǔ) is used for the original sense.
Core Sino–Tibetan. From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ma (“no, not”); cognate with Tibetan མ་ (ma, “not”) and Burmese မ (ma., “not”).
Cognate with:
* 微 (OC *mɯl, “not, no”)
* 毋 (OC *ma, “do not”)
* 勿 (OC *mɯd, “not, don't”)
* 未 (OC *mɯds, “not yet, haven't”)
* 靡 (OC *mralʔ, “not, no”)
* 亡 (OC *maŋ, “not have; to flee, to disappear, to die”)
* 沒 (OC *mɯːd, “to end, to disappear, to drown”)
* 莫 (OC *maːɡ, “none, nobody, nothing; do not; can not”)
Attested profusely in Classical Chinese, this word is the prototypical negation particle in the *m- series of Chinese negatives. In the oracle bone script, however, 無 is not frequently used, and its homophone (or near-homophone) 毋 (OC *ma) is used instead.
See 不 (OC *pɯ, *pɯʔ, *pɯ', “not”) for more on negative particles in Old Chinese.
Perhaps related to 巫 (OC *ma, “shaman, wizard, magician, sorcerer, witch”).

och-l

无
𭴿
橆
𣞤
𣟒
𬻜
𬻝
𭴾
𤍍
𣞣
𫡟
𣠮
𡙻
𤀢
𰙄
𰙈
𣑨
𣚨
𠘩
㷻
无
嘸

GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)

仙人拍鼓有時錯，跤步踏差啥人無／仙人拍鼓有时错，跤步踏差啥人无

sian-jîn phah kó͘ iú sî chhò, kha-pō͘ ta̍h-chha siáⁿ-lâng bô

我無共伊講。

我无共伊讲。


祉

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰlɯʔ): semantic 示 (“sign”) + phonetic 止 (OC *kjɯʔ).

Han compound

happiness; blessings; good luck; felicity


碳

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 石 (“(chemical nomenclature) non-metal solid”) + 炭 (“charcoal”). Also a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声), with 炭 (tàn) as a phonetic component.
From 炭 (tàn, “charcoal”).

(ecology) carbon emissions (in the context of global warming and climate change)


盟

Oracle bone script (𥁰): Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mraŋ, *mraːŋs): semantic 囧 + phonetic 皿 (OC *maŋʔ).
Bronze inscriptions (𥂗): Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mraŋ, *mraːŋs): phonetic 朙 () + semantic 皿. 月 was added to 𥁰. 朙 is an ancient form of 明, and now this character (盟) is a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mraŋ, *mraːŋs): phonetic 明 (OC *mraŋ) + semantic 皿.

Han compound

league (administrative unit in Inner Mongolia)


矮

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qraːlʔ): semantic 矢 + phonetic 委 (OC *qrol, *qrolʔ).

Han compound

(Mainland China Hokkien) to fall short (compared to someone else)


盜

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 㳄 (“spitting man”) + 皿 (“dish”) – a man spitting into a dish, an oath among thieves.

盗
盗
𠉭
𠩼
𤋆
𤑂
𨹇
𨹒
𠪁

盜竊

盗窃

盜案

盗案

大量財物被盜。

大量财物被盗。

robber that commits large robberies or many robberies in an unrestrained manner

大盜

大盗

Robber Zhi (a legendary figure or fictional character)

盜跖

盗跖

海盜

海盗

to introduce bad people and bring disaster upon oneself

開門揖盜

开门揖盗


環

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (環):
* → Japanese: 環(かん) (kan)
* → Korean: 환(環) (hwan)
* → Vietnamese: hoàn (環)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡʷraːn): semantic 玉 (“jade”) + phonetic 睘 (OC *ɡʷeŋ).
Note similarities to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *hwaŋ (“to encircle; circular, fence”), whence Burmese ဝင်း (wang:, “enclosure, compound”).


瞧

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡sʰiːu̯²¹/

/t͡ɕi̯ɒu̯¹³/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡sʰiːu̯²¹/

/t͡ɕi̯ɒu̯¹³/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 目 (“eye”) + phonetic 焦.

Han compound

瞧他那個傻樣兒。

瞧他那个傻样儿。

looking at the crowd surviving off of bread

2023, 陳詠謙 [Chan Wing Him] (lyrics), 吳林峰 [Wilson Ng] (music), 捱麵包的人 [BreadMan], performed by 吳林峰 [Wilson Ng]

瞧捱麵包的人堆

瞧捱面包的人堆

(colloquial) to look; to see; to take a glance at


磁

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zɯ): semantic 石 (“rock; stone”) + phonetic 兹 (OC *ʔsɯ, *zɯ).


硼

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 石 (“stone”) + phonetic 朋.
Originally only used in 硼砂 (“borax”): first attested in 《丹方鑑源》 (Tang dynasty), as 大朋砂. The 硼 here is a loanword; compare Middle Persian bwlk' (bōrag).
The “boron” sense of 硼 is a clipping or back-formation.


正

Burmese language
Chepang language
Jingpho language
Khmer language
Mizo language
Proto-Sino-Tibetan language
Thai language
Tibetan language

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjeŋ, *tjeŋs): phonetic 丁 (OC *rteːŋ, *teːŋ) + semantic 止 (“foot”) – to go on a long journey. Original form of 征 (OC *tjeŋ, “to go on long campaign”).
Later, 丁 was simplified into a horizontal stroke, as in 旦. Folk etymologies do not recognize 丁. Graphically, the modern version of the character is the reverse of 之.
Sino-Tibetan or area word: “centre; target; first (month); straight; correct”.
Compare Mizo dîng (“to go straight or direct (as person, arrow etc.); to go straight through without breaking the journey; straight; direct”). Matisoff sets up Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-tjak/ŋ ~ tik/ŋ (“good; very; real; straight”) for this, which includes 正, 直 (OC *dɯɡ, “straight; right”) and 實 (OC *ɦliɡ, “solid; true”).
Additionally, Matisoff has Proto-Sino-Tibetan *t(r)waŋ (“straight; straighten”), whence Chepang धेङ्सा (dʰeŋ-, “straight”), Jingpho ding (“straight”), Tibetan དྲང་པོ (drang po, “straight; correct; upright; just; fair”), Burmese တန်း (tan:, “straight; to head straight for”). Also compare Khmer ទៀង (tiĕng, “accurate; correct; exact; precise; honest”) and Thai ดิ่ง (dìng, “vertically; straight; to plummet”).
Derivatives:
* 征 (OC *tjeŋ, “to go straight > to go on a journey”)
* 政 (OC *tjeŋs, “correct; to govern; government; to determine”)
* 整 (OC *tjeŋʔ, “orderly; to arrange; to dispose”)
For etymology of pronunciation 正 (zhĕng) in the month 正月 (zhēngyuè)'s name, see there.

och-l

正音

正午

而家係五點正。

而家系五点正。

(tally marks) five (successive strokes of 正 are added in writing sequence to tally a count of five per character)


正

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (正):
* → Japanese: 正(しょう) (shō); 正(せい) (sei)
* → Korean: 정(正) (jeong)
* → Vietnamese: chính (正), chánh (正)

desc

Lao: ຈຽງ (chīang, “first month of the lunar year”)

l-lite

Lü: ᦵᦈᧂ (ṫseng, “first month in Dai lunar calendar, starting in November”)

desc

Northern Thai: ᨠ᩠ᨿᨦ (“first month of the lunar year”)

Shan: ၸဵင် (tsǎeng, “first month of the Shan year, starting December-January”)

Ahom: 𑜋𑜢𑜂𑜫 (chiṅ, “first month of the lunar year”)

Vietnamese: giêng (“first month of the Vietnamese lunar year, starting January-February”)

Han compound

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjeŋ, *tjeŋs): phonetic 丁 (OC *rteːŋ, *teːŋ) + semantic 止 (“foot”)

cog-lite

Mizo dîng (“to go straight or direct (as person, arrow etc.); to go straight through without breaking the journey; straight; direct”)

inh-lite

Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-tjak/ŋ ~ tik/ŋ (“good; very; real; straight”)

Proto-Sino-Tibetan *t(r)waŋ (“straight; straighten”)

cog-lite

Tibetan དྲང་པོ (drang po, “straight; correct; upright; just; fair”)

cog-lite

Burmese တန်း (tan:, “straight; to head straight for”)

cog-lite

Khmer ទៀង (tiĕng, “accurate; correct; exact; precise; honest”)

cog-lite

Thai ดิ่ง (dìng, “vertically; straight; to plummet”)

och-l

征 (OC *tjeŋ, “to go straight > to go on a journey”)

政 (OC *tjeŋs, “correct; to govern; government; to determine”)

整 (OC *tjeŋʔ, “orderly; to arrange; to dispose”)

新正


癖

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰeɡ, *pʰeːɡ): semantic 疒 + phonetic 辟 (OC *peɡ, *pʰeɡ, *beɡ).


矩

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʷaʔ): semantic 矢 + phonetic 巨 (OC *ɡaʔ). The arrow is a stylization of a man with spread arms and/or holding the carpenter's square, 大.
; “(physics) moment”


碑

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pre): semantic 石 (“stone”) + phonetic 卑 (OC *pe).

Han compound

墓碑

界碑

紀念碑

纪念碑


磐

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *baːn): phonetic 般 (OC *praːn, *paːn, *baːn) + semantic 石 (“stone”).
; “large rock”


理

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (理):
* → Japanese: 理(り) (ri)
* → Korean: 리/이(理) (ri/i)
* → Vietnamese: lí (理)

→ Proto-Vietic:

Middle Vietnamese: mlẽ

Vietnamese: nhẽ, lẽ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *rɯʔ): semantic 玉 (“jade”) + phonetic 里 (OC *rɯʔ).
According to Shuowen Jiezi, the character meant “to polish jade”. The current meaning “to order, tidy up” may be derived from it.
;"to cut jade, to mark out (field boundaries)"
;"to regulate"
;"to administer"
;"envoy, jail official, matchmaker"
:Possibly the same word as 理 (lǐ) "to administer".
:According to Schuessler (2007), from Austroasiatic; compare Old Khmer re (“to move, change position”) & its derivatives Old Khmer pre (“to send, order, assign, appoint, delegate, use, employ, make”), in turn related to paṃre (“to serve; service, duty; servant, delegate, representative, minister”); with Sino-Tibetan causative *s- corresponding to Khmer causative *p-..

cog

他們不理我。

他们不理我。

keoi⁵ lin⁴ zi⁶ gei² go³ zai² dou¹ m⁴ lei⁵.

佢連自己個仔都唔理。

佢连自己个仔都唔理。

(usually in negative) to pay attention to; to care about


磚

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjon): semantic 石 (“rock”) + phonetic 專 (OC *tjon).

Han compound

(electronic devices) to become unfunctional

變磚

变砖

(computing slang, figurative) brick (an electronic device, especially a heavy box-shaped one, that has become non-functional or obsolete)


研

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋɡeːn, *ŋeːns): semantic 石 + phonetic 幵 (OC *kŋeːn).

Han compound

Short for 研究生 (yánjiūshēng, “postgraduate studies or student”).


禧

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qʰlɯ, *qʰlɯʔ): semantic 示 + phonetic 喜 (OC *qʰlɯʔ).

Han compound

favourable luck; good fortune; auspiciousness; blessings


睪

𠬤
𥇝
𥇡
𦎝
睾
睾
睾
𠬤
𠬤
𠬤


瞳

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *doːŋ): semantic 目 + phonetic 童 (OC *doːŋ).
From 童 (OC *doːŋ, “child”). Compare English pupil (“‘child’ > student; pupil of eye”) for a similar semantic development.


盲

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mraːŋ): phonetic 亡 (OC *maŋ) + semantic 目 (“eye”). Also Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): semantic 亡 (“cutting edge of a knife; to perish”) + semantic 目 (“eye”) - go blind (by losing your eye). See also 民, 臧 and 童.


礎

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sŋ̊ʰraʔ): semantic 石 (“stone”) + phonetic 楚 (OC *sŋ̊ʰraʔ, *sŋ̊ʰras) – a kind of stone, a plinth.


碟

/iap̚³²⁻³²⁵/

/iap̚³²⁻³²⁵/

From 疊 (MC dep, “stack”); not used before Yuan dynasty.

(computing) disc-based data storage device, such as a CD or a DVD (Classifier: 隻／只 c)


禱

默禱／默祷

A lucky day was wù, and we sacrificed on it to the Ruler of horses, and prayed.

吉日維戊，既伯既禱。

吉日维戊，既伯既祷。

1999, 西伯 (lyrics and music), “上帝聽禱告”performed by 鄧婉玲 [Mimi Tang] and 蘇如紅 [Ivy So]:

san⁴ aa³, ho² fau² teng¹ teng¹ ngo⁵ tou²

神啊 可否聽聽我禱

神啊 可否听听我祷


睛

/t͡sʰi̯aŋ²⁴/

/t͡sʰi̯aŋ²⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsleŋ, *sʰleŋʔ): semantic 目 + phonetic 青 (OC *sʰleːŋ).


睛

/t͡sʰiɪŋ⁵⁵⁴/

/t͡sʰiɪŋ⁵⁵⁴/


睡

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djols): semantic 目 (“eye”) + phonetic 垂 (OC *djol) – sleep.
May be from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(d/n)waj (“to hang from; to cling to; creeper”); see 垂 (OC *djol, “to hang down”) for more (STEDT).

inh

Zhanguo Ce, circa 5ᵗʰ – 3ʳᵈ centuries BCE

Dúshū yù shuì, yǐn zhuī zì cì qí gǔ, xuè liú zhì zú.

讀書欲睡，引錐自刺其股，血流至足。

读书欲睡，引锥自刺其股，血流至足。


矜

Corrupted from 矝, which is a Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡrɯn, *ɡɯn, *kɯŋ): semantic 矛 (“spear”) + phonetic 令 (OC *ren, *reŋ, *reŋs, *reːŋ, *reːŋs). Modern Mandarin pronunciation follows the corrupted phonetic part 今 (jīn).

Han compound

to pity; to feel sorry for; to show sympathy for


礦

→ Bouyei: kuangq

→ Zhuang: gvangq

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʷraːŋʔ): semantic 石 (“stone”) + phonetic 廣 (OC *kʷaːŋʔ).

Han compound

矿
鑛
鉱
磺
丱
卝
鋛
𥐫
𥒩
𨥑
𨥥
𨧾
𨨭


田

The Min native word for “paddy field; field”.
Etymology unknown. Chinese scholars identify 塍 (OC *ɦljɯŋ, “raised path between fields”) as the etymological character (本字), although Norman proposes that this is related to 層 (OC *zɯːŋ, “layer”), reflecting the terraced fields commonly found in Fujian (Schuessler, 2007). Compare also 㽪 (“wet field”).

och-l

paddy field; wet field (Classifier: 坵 mn)


碧

desc

→ Vietnamese: biếc (“bluish green; azure blue”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *praɡ, *preɡ): semantic 王 (“jade”) + semantic 石 (“stone”) + phonetic 白 (OC *braːɡ).


眾

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (衆／众):
* → Japanese: 衆(しゅう) (shū)
* → Vietnamese: chúng (眾)

Pictogram (象形): a sun (日) above three humans (㐺) – people gathered or working under the sun.
The top, originally 日 (“sun”) in oracle script has been modified, in bronze script resembling instead a horizontal eye (early form of 目) – reinterpreted as “a crowd under someone’s gaze”, and now resembles 罒.
The bottom, originally three figures (人人人), uses various forms of 人 and 亻, with variation depending on font.
Possibly from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-toŋ (“thousand”) (Peiros and Starostin, 1996; STEDT); if so, cognate with Tibetan སྟོང (stong, “thousand”), Burmese ထောင် (htaung, “thousand”), Drung tu (“thousand”), Nuosu ꄙ (dur, “thousand”).
Alternatively, Schuessler (2007) compares this word with Classical Tibetan [script needed] (yong, “in all, at all times, ever before”) and Tibetan ཡོངས (yongs, “all, whole”).

cog

众
衆
乑
㐺
𥅫
𠱧
𠱦
𠂝

32nd tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "legion" (𝌥)


碰

→ English: pung, pong

→ Japanese: 碰(ポン) (pon)

→ Tagalog: pong

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 石 (“rock”) + phonetic 並.
Appears in Zihui [Ming dynasty] as 掽, but only attested in literary works since Qing dynasty. Probably a recent colloquial form of 逢 (MC bjowng) (Wang, 1982; Schuessler, 2007).


確

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰroːwɢ): semantic 石 (“rock”) + phonetic 寉 (OC *ɡluːwɢ) – rock-solid, as certain as a rock.

Han compound

確信

确信

Alternative form of 确 (què, “rocky and barren”)

Alternative form of 搉 (què, “to knock; to hit; to beat”)


爾

尔
尒
𡭗
尓
𠇍
尔
尼
呢
尔
耳
定
領
但
尔
尔

(Hokkien) that's all; nothing more; is all


矣

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢlɯʔ): phonetic 㠯 (OC *lɯʔ) + semantic 矢 (“arrow”). 矢 (OC *hliʔ) may also act as a phonetic component.
Pulleyblank (1995) tentatively suggests a connection to adverb 已 (OC *lɯʔ, “already, perfective marker”), drawing a parallel with the 了₁ (perfective particle) and 了₂ (change of state modal particle) meanings of 了 (le), but doubts that they are etymologically related, suggesting the connection may be purely semantic and for aspectual functions.

och-l

(literary) Particle expressing completion, similar to 了 (le) in Standard Mandarin.

(literary) Particle expressing exclamation, similar to 啦 (la) in Standard Mandarin.


秉

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 禾 (“plant”) + 又 (“hand”) — a hand holding a plant by the stalk. Compare: 兼, a hand holding two plants.
Cognate with 柄 (OC *praŋʔ, *praŋs, “a handle”), which is exopassive of 秉 (OC *praŋʔ, “to grasp”).


眉

Pictogram (象形): 𠃜 + 目 (eye), hair above an eye. The component for hair became 𠃜 during the development into the seal and clerical scripts.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s/r-m(u/i/ja)l (“hair; fur; feather”) (STEDT). Cognate with Tibetan སྨིན་མ (smin ma, “eyebrow”), Burmese အမွေး (a.mwe:, “hair; fur; feather”).

cog

(by extension) upper margin of a book, leaflet, or page; header


碇

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 石 (“rock; stone”) + phonetic 定 (OC *teːŋs, *deːŋs).

Han compound

(Southern Min) Classifier for the weight of precious metal.


眠

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *miːn): semantic 目 (“eye”) + phonetic 民 (OC *min) – close your eyes and go to sleep.


畫

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 聿 (“pen brush”) + 画 (“a field (田) enclosed on four sides”). Meaning of "field boundaries recorded with a brush".

画
晝
畵
𠚇
𡇍
𤰱
𨽶
𤲯
𤲿
𦘕
𦘚
𤱪


畫

画
晝
畵
𠚇
𡇍
𤰱
𨽶
𤲯
𤲿
𦘕
𦘚
𤱪

畫幅畫

画幅画

drawing; painting; picture (Classifier: 幅 m c mn; 張／张 m)


用

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (用):
* → Japanese: 用(よう) (yō)
* → Korean: 용(用) (yong)
* → Vietnamese: dụng (用)

→ Iu Mien: longc

→ Vietnamese: dùng

→ Zhuang: yungh

Pictogram (象形): a water bucket. Compare 桶. Similar but unrelated to 甬, which represents a bronze bell, and 角, which represents a horn. Unrelated to the bottom part of 備, which represents a quiver. Eventually, unrelated to 甫, in which it is the stylization of 田.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *z(j)um ~ *zuŋ, provisionally set up by STEDT. Cognates to 傭 (OC loŋ) and 庸 (OC loŋ), outside Sinitic, Southern Bai zv³¹ (“to use”) Burmese သုံး (sum:, “to use”), Ersu zi⁵⁵ (“to use”), Nuosu ꌬ (ssi, “to use”), Pa'o Karen [script needed] (sūŋ, “to use”).
Sun (1999) and Schuessler (2007) consider this word a cognate to Tibetan ལོངས (longs, “use”)


碼

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mraːʔ): semantic 石 (“stone; rock”) + phonetic 馬 (OC *mraːʔ).
Before Qing dynasty, the character was used in word 碼瑙／码瑙 (Yupian) and 碼頭／码头 (mǎtou) (Stories to Awaken the World), both originally written with 馬／马 (mǎ).
; “gambling chip”, “chip for counting” (> “number”), “classifier for things”
; “yard”
; “kilometer per hour”
; “pixelization”
; “to reply to a post for reading it later”

zh-l

碼頭／码头 (mǎtou)

八碼／八码 [Cantonese] ― baat³ maa⁵ [Jyutping] ― eight hours (of work)

2009 December 17, 王國興, parliamentary debates:

ho² si⁶, zung¹ dai¹ cang⁴ jyun⁴ gung¹ bat¹ daan⁶ doi⁶ jyu⁶ caa¹, waan⁴ jiu³ coeng⁴ si⁴ gaan³ gung¹ zok³, lai⁶ jyu⁴ bou² on¹, cing¹ git³ dang² gung¹ zung², zeoi³ dai¹ haan⁶ dou⁶ jiu³ zou⁶ “sap⁶ ji⁶ maa⁵”.

可是，中低層員工不但待遇差，還要長時間工作，例如保安、清潔等工種，最低限度要做「十二碼」。

可是，中低层员工不但待遇差，还要长时间工作，例如保安、清洁等工种，最低限度要做「十二码」。

bou² on¹ jyun⁴ jat¹ bun¹ fan¹ wai⁴ baat³ maa⁵ (8 siu² si⁴) wo⁴ sap⁶ ji⁶ maa⁵ (12 siu² si⁴) loeng⁵ daai⁶ leoi⁶, syun² ding⁶ soeng⁵ baan¹ si⁴ gaan³ zi¹ hau⁶ si⁶ bat¹ wui⁵ zyun³ baan¹ dik¹; zyu² jam⁶ wo⁴ zyu² gun² kap¹ jat¹ bun¹ wai⁴ gau² waak⁶ sap⁶ siu² si⁴ gung¹ zok³, ging¹ lei⁵ zak¹ wai⁴ baat³ zi³ gau² siu² si⁴.

保安員一般分為八碼(8小時)和十二碼(12小時)兩大類，選定上班時間之後是不會轉班的；主任和主管級一般為九或十小時工作，經理則為八至九小時。

保安员一般分为八码(8小时)和十二码(12小时)两大类，选定上班时间之后是不会转班的；主任和主管级一般为九或十小时工作，经理则为八至九小时。

2016 April 30, “勞工及福利局局長就標準工時和低收入在職家庭津貼與傳媒談話內容”, in 新聞公報:

lai⁶ jyu⁴ jat¹ se¹ coeng⁴ gung¹ si⁴ dik¹ so² wai⁶ “sap⁶ ji⁶ maa⁵” bou² on¹ jyun⁴, jyu⁴ gwo² jau⁵ liu⁵ jat¹ go³ gung¹ si⁴ biu¹ zeon², naa⁵ zoi⁶ kwai¹ haan⁶ dik¹ gung¹ si⁴ ji⁵ ngoi⁶ bin⁶ jiu³ kap¹ jyu⁵ “ou¹ ti¹”, zik¹ so² wai⁶ dik¹ “bou² seoi²”, bat¹ si⁶ mui⁵ jat¹ go³ gu³ zyu² dou¹ wui⁶ lau⁴ haa⁶ jyun⁴ gung¹ zok³ “bou² seoi²”, jyu⁴ gwo² mut⁶ jau⁵ “bou² seoi²” bing⁶ baa² gung¹ si⁴ suk¹ dyun², ze² se¹ jyun⁴ gung¹ dik¹ sang¹ gai³ bin⁶ wui⁵ zik¹ si⁴ sau⁶ jing² hoeng².

例如一些長工時的所謂「十二碼」保安員，如果有了一個工時標準，那在規限的工時以外便要給予「OT」，即所謂的「補水」，不是每一個僱主都會留下員工作「補水」，如果沒有「補水」並把工時縮短，這些員工的生計便會即時受影響。

例如一些长工时的所谓「十二码」保安员，如果有了一个工时标准，那在规限的工时以外便要给予「OT」，即所谓的「补水」，不是每一个雇主都会留下员工作「补水」，如果没有「补水」并把工时缩短，这些员工的生计便会即时受影响。

2018 December 24, “【最低工資】保安爸爸的「12碼」生涯 聖誕加班忙 天倫樂成奢侈”, in 香港01:

fong² man⁶ dong¹ jat⁶ je⁶ mok⁶ dai¹ seoi⁴, bou² on¹ jyun⁴ kwan¹ go¹ koek³ coi⁴ gong¹ gong¹ haa⁶ baan¹. seoi¹ jin⁴ gong¹ gong¹ ngaai⁴ jyun⁴ jat¹ coeng⁴ “12 maa⁵” dik¹ taa¹ ji⁵ pei⁴ baai⁶ bat¹ ham¹, daan⁶ taam⁴ dou³ gwo³ heoi³ si⁴ kwan¹ go¹ koek³ tou¹ tou¹ bat¹ zyut⁶.

訪問當日夜幕低垂，保安員坤哥卻才剛剛下班。雖然剛剛捱完一場「12碼」的他已疲憊不堪，但談到過去時坤哥卻滔滔不絕。

访问当日夜幕低垂，保安员坤哥却才刚刚下班。虽然刚刚捱完一场「12码」的他已疲惫不堪，但谈到过去时坤哥却滔滔不绝。

(Cantonese) Classifier for hours (of work).


王

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (王):
* → Japanese: 王(おう) (ō)
* → Okinawan: 王(をー) (wō)
* → Korean: 왕(王) (wang)
* → Vietnamese: vương (王)

desc

→ Classical Mongolian: ᠸᠠᠩ (wang) (via Mandarin)

Mongolian:

Mongolian script: ᠸᠠᠩ (wang)

Cyrillic script: ван (van)

→ Buryat: ван (van)

→ English: Wang (via Mandarin), Wong (via Cantonese), Ong (via Hokkien), Heng (via Teochew)

→ Iu Mien: hungh

→ Manchu: ᠸᠠᠩ (wang) (via Mandarin)

→ Middle Mongol: (via Early Mandarin)

Uigurjin script: ᠣᠩ (ʾwnk /oŋ/)

→ Old Uyghur: 𐽰𐽳𐽺𐽷 (oŋ) (via Early Mandarin), 𐽳𐽰𐽺𐽷 (wʾnk /waŋ/) (via Early Mandarin)

→ Old Uyghur: 𐽰𐽳𐽶𐽺𐽷 (öŋ)

→ Tagalog: Ong (via Hokkien), Wong (via Cantonese), Wang (via Mandarin)

→ Thai: อ๋อง (ɔ̌ng) (via Hokkien)

→ Zhuang: vuengz

Chinese bronze inscriptions
Konyak languages
Zhou dynasty

Characters in the same phonetic series (王) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) of a ritual axe made perhaps of jade, a symbols of the king's power. A ceremonial axe was kept near the throne, and was used for performing rituals in ancient China.
The traditional interpretation (most likely a folk etymology given the original appearence of the character) is that the character metaphorically indicates the king or emperor according to the ancient Chinese thought: three horizontal strokes represent Heaven, Man and Earth, and the vertical stroke is the king or emperor, the one who connects them together. However, compare 天 (tiān) (a man with a horizontal stroke above his head to indicate the sky).
Unrelated to 玉 (yù, “a string with three pieces of jade”) and 主 (“master”); partly related to 士 (a war axe and, perhaps, sometimes a variant of 王), to 戉 (an axe drawn vertically), to the inner component of 匡 (kuāng, “square‑shaped bamboo basket”), and to the right component of 往 (< 𢓸).
Uncertain. There are many proposed etymologies:
* Sagart and Baxter (2009) compare it to Tibetan གོང་མ (gong ma, “superior one”).
* Schuessler (2007) compares it to Tibetan དབང (dbang, “strength, power”) and Burmese အန် (an, “strength, power”), which derive from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-baŋ (“strength, power”). However, reconstructing the Old Chinese as *waŋ, he notes the mismatch between Old Chinese *w- vs. Tibetan *b- (unless *dw- can become db-; for possible *b- ~ * w- variation, see 花). He also compares it to Proto-Northern Naga *waŋ (“chief”).
* Schuessler (2007) alternatively proposes a connection to Old Khmer vāṅ, vaṅ (modern Khmer វាំង (veăng), “royal palace”), which he considers to be cognate with Khmer ហ្លួង (luŏng, “king”). This is perhaps supported by a bronze inscription where 王 refers to a place, not the Zhou king (Shaughnessy, 1991). The semantic shift from "palace" to "king" parallels Egyptian pr-ꜥꜣ (“pharaoh”, literally “palace”), from pr (“house”) + ꜥꜣ (“great, big”). The connection to the Old Khmer word would thus relate it to Proto-Mon-Khmer *waŋ ~ *waaŋ (“enclosure; to go round”), which is part of a larger Austroasiatic word family, including 營 (OC *ɢʷeŋ) and 環 (OC *ɡʷraːn). Bodman (1980) connects 王 with 皇 (OC *ɡʷaːŋ, “sovereign”), which Schuessler (2007) connects to this word family.
* Speculations exist about its connection to 尪 (OC *qʷaːŋ, “lame, crippled”) and 狂 (OC *ɡʷaŋ, “mad”), based on theories about the connection between ancient Chinese kingship and shamanism (Keightley, 1995).

cog

王勃

王延政


祠

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ljɯ) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): semantic 礻 (“divinity”) + phonetic 司 (OC *slɯ).


碗

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (碗):
* → Japanese: 碗(わん) (wan)

→ Ahom: 𑜈𑜃𑜫 (ban)

→ Jingpho: wan

desc

→ Lü: ᦛᦱᧃᧈ (v̇aan¹)

→ Lü: ᦛᦱᧃᧈ (v̇aan¹)

→ Tai Nüa: ᥝᥣᥢᥱ (wǎan)

→ Zhuang: vanj

Wutunhua: wan

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qoːnʔ): semantic 石 (“stone”) + phonetic 宛 (OC *qon, *qonʔ).
From 甌 (OC *qoː, “bowl”) + -n (“nominalizing suffix”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

一碗米飯

一碗米饭

一碗粥

Classifier for the quantity of a bowl: bowlful


異

Ideogram (指事) – a man with a mask (田) over his face. Possible interpretations:
* Strange, bizarre — "uncommon".
* Different face — "different".
Compare 鬼 (“demon”), where the 田 also derives from a face or a mask. Compare also 禺, in which the top component represents either a mask or a monkey's face.
Alternatively, may be a pictogram (象形) of a person carrying something on his head, the original form of 戴 (“to carry on the head”).
Modern form is graphically 田 + 共, though this is not the etymology.

異好

异好


示

Pictogram (象形) – an altar. The original form is similar to unrelated character 丅, and additional strokes are added to prevent confusion with an ancient variant of 下 and the ancient version of 主. See also 帝. Unrelated to 小 and the bottom part of 京.

to show; to reveal; to indicate; to notify; to instruct


發

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (發):
* → Vietnamese: phát (發)

Old Turkic: pat-la (explode)

desc

Turkmen: patlamak (commo), partlamak (standard)

Turkish: patlamak

Azerbaijani: partlamaq

Chagatai: پارتلماق

Uzbek: portlamoq

Uyghur: پارتىلاماق (partilamaq)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pad): semantic 弓 (“bow”) + phonetic 癹 (OC *pʰaːd, *baːd).
STEDT compares 發 (OC *pad) to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-p(r)ats (“to vomit”), whence Proto-Lolo-Burmese *C-pat (“to vomit”) (> Burmese ပစ် (pac, “to shoot, to throw, to eject”)) and Jingpho ǹ-phàt (“to vomit”).
According to Schuessler (2007), this is an area word; compare Proto-Vietic *ɓah (“to vomit”), Mon ပန် (“to shoot”).
A derivation is probably 廢 (OC *pads, “to cast aside”).

cog

發芽

发芽

These red beans grow only in the south,
In spring they branch away and flourish.

Wang Wei (王維), c. 8th century, Yearning (《相思》). Translated by Betty Tseng.

紅豆生南國，春來發幾枝。

红豆生南国，春来发几枝。

(chiefly of plants or plant parts) to grow out; (of flowers) to blossom

to issue
to grow out; (of flowers) to blossom

喙齒發出來矣。

喙齿发出来矣。

to issue
(Hokkien) to grow out (teeth, etc.)

暴發戶

暴发户

他發了。

他发了。

伊這氣咧發。

伊这气咧发。

(colloquial) to gain wealth; to become rich; to make a fortune


窨

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-jim ~ k-jum (“house; pit; womb”).


病

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (病):
* → Vietnamese: bệnh (病)

→ Zhuang: bingh

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *braŋs): semantic 疒 (“sickness”) + phonetic 丙 (OC *pqraŋʔ) – illness. Note that 丙 also means “fire”, hence connotations of “lying feverishly in bed”.
Cognate with 怲 (OC *praŋʔ, *praŋs, “to worry”) (Schuessler, 2007). This may be part of larger word family including 炳 (OC *praŋʔ, “bright”) with the basic meaning of “warm; hot” (ibid.). It has also been connected with 傷 (OC *hljaŋ) (Unger, 1986).

Han compound

我姥姥病了。


穄

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsleds): semantic 禾 + phonetic 祭 (OC *ʔsreːds, *ʔsleds).

Han compound

Panicum miliaceum
Panicum miliaceum#Translingual

non-glutinous variety of Panicum miliaceum, proso millet


秘

In current form: Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mpriɡs): semantic 禾 + phonetic 必 (OC *pliɡ).
Variant (俗字) of 祕 via 示 → 禾, hence there is a reference to secret rituals and the concept of arcane.
Read mì instead of bì in Mandarin as a result of conflation with 密 (mì) (c.f. 秘密 (mìmì)) (Fu, 1958).


穆

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *muɡ): semantic 禾 (“grain”) + phonetic 㣎 () – standing grain.

Han compound

(historical) the right side position of tablets in ancestral shrines

穆罕默德 穆罕默德#Chinese


稼

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kraːs): semantic 禾 + phonetic 家 (OC *kraː).
Compare Proto-Tai *klaːꟲ (“seedling; rice”), Proto-Kam-Sui *kla³ (“rice seedling”), though the medials do not agree (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

You sow not nor reap; -
How do you get the produce of those three hundred farms?

不稼不穡，胡取禾三百廛兮？

不稼不穑，胡取禾三百廛兮？


窘

/t͡ɕi̯ʊŋ²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕi̯ʊŋ²¹⁴/


碎

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *suːds): semantic 石 (“stone”) + phonetic 卒 (OC *ʔsuːd, *sʰuːd, *ʔsud).


硬

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋɡraːŋs, *ŋɡraːŋs): semantic 石 + phonetic 更 (OC *kraːŋ, *kraːŋs).


短

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *toːnʔ): semantic 矢 + phonetic 豆 (OC *doːs).
The Proto-Min reconstructed form is *toiᴮ (Bodman, 1980). The relationship of this to the -n forms in other dialects is unclear and two theories exist:
* Old Chinese *tˤorʔ divergently developed into (1) *toj in southeastern China, and (2) *ton elsewhere (Baxter and Sagart, 2014). Compare also:
** 端 (OC *tˤor) vs 瑞 (OC *[d]or-s)
** 算 (OC *[s]ˤorʔ-s)
** 卵 (OC *k.rˤorʔ).
* Proto-Min may represent the original Old Chinese form, and the forms in other Chinese varieties are due to confusion with 斷 (OC *toːnʔ, *toːns, *doːnʔ, “to cut”) (Schuessler, 2007).
STEDT sets up two roots for this: Proto-Sino-Tibetan *t(j)u(ŋ/n) (“short”), whence Burmese တောင်း (taung:, “short (as in garment)”), and *dəw (“short”), whence Burmese တို (tui, “short”), Mizo tawi (“short”).

cog

(Mainland China, transitive) to text; to send a text message to


盤

/pʰuːn²¹⁻³⁵/

/pʰuːn²¹⁻³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *baːn): phonetic 般 (OC *praːn, *paːn, *baːn) + semantic 皿.

Han compound

軟盤／软盘

網盤／网盘

(computing, chiefly Mainland China) disk; hard drive; storage device


秫

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɦljud) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): semantic 禾 (“grain”) + phonetic 朮 (OC *l'ud, *ɦljud, “glutinous millet”). Originally written 朮 (not to be confused with 术).
Area word (Schuessler, 2007); compare:
* Proto-Hmong-Mien *mblut (“glutinous; sticky”) (Sagart, 1999; Schuessler, 2007; Ratliff, 2010; Baxter and Sagart, 2014);
* Proto-Austronesian *-lit (“caulk; adhesive material”) > Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bulit (“glue; paste; stick; caulk”) (Ratliff, 2010);
* Proto-Austronesian *puluC (“Caesar weed, a mucilaginous plant”), Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *pulut (“birdlime, sticky sap of breadfruit, etc.”) (Sagart, 1993; Ratliff, 2018).
Sagart and Baxter (2010) posit that the *m- in their Old Chinese reconstruction, based on the Hmong-Mien evidence, may be a reduced form of 米 (OC *(C.)mˤ[e]jʔ, “millet or rice grains, dehusked and polished”).

och-l

glutinous grain
(literary) glutinous millet

glutinous grain
(literary or Min) glutinous rice


秮

秮 (Kangxi radical 115, 禾+5, 10 strokes, cangjie input 竹木戈口 (HDIR), four-corner 2296₃, composition ⿰禾台)


窒

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tiːɡ, *tiɡ): semantic 穴 + phonetic 至 (OC *tjiɡs).

Han compound

畫面窒吓窒吓。

画面窒吓窒吓。

(Cantonese, figuratively) to stutter; to make halting movements


租

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsaː): semantic 禾 + phonetic 且 (OC *sʰjaːʔ, *ʔsa).
Land rent was paid in grain.


秧

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qaŋ, *qaŋʔ): semantic 禾 (“grain; cereal”) + phonetic 央 (OC *qaŋ).
Attested relatively late, in the Tang dynasty (Sagart (2011)).
Haudricourt and Strecker (1991) propose a Hmong-Mien origin, but Sagart (2011) argues that the direction of borrowing should be the other way around. He instead proposes an internal Chinese origin, suggesting that it is a cognate of 英 (OC *qraŋ, “grasses at their growing/flowering stage, before producing seeds”) without a -r- infix.
Relationship with Tibeto-Burman items is unclear, due to mismatching initials: Tibetan ལྗང་བ (ljang ba, “shoot, sprout”), ལྗང་བུ (ljang bu, “rice seedling”), Lepcha ᰊᰜᰤᰨᰵ (ta-lyong, “young blades of corn, rice”) (Schuessler, 2007).


監

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 臥 + 血. Note the migration of the dot from 血 → 皿 to a third stroke of 人 → ⿱𠂉丶/⿱𠂉一.
Alternatively, pictogram (象形) depicting a person with an emphasized eye looking into a container (Ji Xusheng, 2004).
Compare Burmese ကြံ (kram, “to think, scheme”).


秤

/t͡sʰɛiŋ²¹³/

/t͡sʰɛiŋ²¹³/

冧秤 [Hong Kong Cantonese] ― lam³ cing³ [Jyutping] ― to have a tower crane collapse

(Hong Kong) Short for 天秤 (“tower crane”).


祥

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ljaŋ): semantic 示 (“altar”) + phonetic 羊 (OC *laŋ). Originally just 羊, 示 was added later to distinguish it.
;"fortune, omen (good or bad)" > "good luck"
;ancient funeral sacrifice

Han compound

Gongmengzi said to Mozi: "There is only righteousness and unrighteousness, but no such thing as propitiousness or unpropitiousness."

Mozi, c. 4ᵗʰ century BCE, translated based on Y. P. Mei's version

Gōngmèngzǐ wèi zǐ Mòzǐ yuē: “Yǒu yì bùyì, wú xiáng bùxiáng.”

公孟子謂子墨子曰：「有義不義，無祥不祥。」

公孟子谓子墨子曰：「有义不义，无祥不祥。」


社

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (社):
* → Japanese: 社(しゃ) (sha)
* → Korean: 사(社) (sa)
* → Vietnamese: xã (社)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 示 (“god; deity”) + 土 (“soil”)
Probably related to 土 (OC *l̥ʰaːʔ, “earth, soil”); Takashima (2004) considers them an etymological doublet.

Han compound

旅行社

agency (used for certain agencies that provide services)


穗

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sɢʷids): semantic 禾 (“grain”) + phonetic 惠 (OC *ɢʷiːds).
From Sino-Tibetan; compare Mizo vui (“ear (of grain); to ear”).


窟

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰluːd): semantic 穴 (“hole; cave”) + phonetic 屈 (OC *klud, *kʰlud).


究

/t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯⁵¹/

/t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯⁵¹/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kus): semantic 穴 (“cave”) + phonetic 九 (OC *kuʔ).


物

Sino-Xenic (物):
* → Vietnamese: vật (物)

Characters in the same phonetic series (勿) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mɯd): semantic 牛 + phonetic 勿 (OC *mɯd).
Compare Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(m/b)rəw (“grain; seed; lineage”) (STEDT), whence Tibetan འབྲུ ('bru, “seed; grain”), Jingpho amyu (ə myú, “kind; sort”), Burmese မျိုး (myui:, “seed”). Within Sinitic, compare 苗 (OC *mrew, “seedling, sprout”), 麰 (OC *mu, “barley”).


穩

傲人

nowadays especially of breasts, body curve

走路不穩／走路不稳

十拿九穩／十拿九稳

穩贏／稳赢


稚

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'ils): semantic 禾 (“rice”) + phonetic 屖 (OC *sliːl).
During the Han Dynasty, the 屖 component was commonly substituted with 隹 (zhuī).
Related to 遲 (OC *l'il, “slow; late”) (Liu, 1999; Schuessler, 2007).


禍

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡloːlʔ): semantic 示 (“sacrifice”) + phonetic 咼 (OC *kʰʷroːl).


祈

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡɯl): semantic 示 (“altar”) + phonetic 斤 (OC *kɯn, *kɯns).


皮

/pʰei̯²¹⁻³⁵/

/pʰei²²⁻²²⁵/

/pʰei̯²¹⁻³⁵/

/pʰei²²⁻²²⁵/

Characters in the same phonetic series (皮) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – a hand (又) stripping the fur from an animal pelt (similar to 革). The pelt moved to the top left and became abstracted.
The character 叚 is similar, but actually it depicts two hands and some rocks 石 on oracle bones; a conservative variant is 𠭊.
;“skin”
; “pico-”

Han etyl

(Cantonese, colloquial) ten thousand dollars