毀

* Sears interprets it as Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 臼 (“cracked skull”) + 工 (“tool”) + 殳 (“hand action”), a man being hit in the head.
* Liu Zhao interprets it as Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hmralʔ, *hmrals): phonetic 𬛸 () + semantic 殳 (“hand holding staff; strike”)
* Shuowen Jiezi interprets it as Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hmralʔ, *hmrals): abbreviated phonetic 毇 (OC *hmralʔ) + semantic 土

Han compound

毀了自己的前途

毁了自己的前途

Shu Sun Wu Shu having spoken revilingly of Zhong Ni, Zi Gong said, "It is of no use doing so. Zhong Ni cannot be reviled.

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

Shūsūn Wǔ Shū huǐ Zhòngní. Zǐ Gòng yuē: “Wúyǐ wéi yě! Zhòngní bùkě huǐ yě.

叔孫武叔毀仲尼。子貢曰：「無以為也！仲尼不可毀也。

叔孙武叔毁仲尼。子贡曰：「无以为也！仲尼不可毁也。


況

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hmaŋs): semantic 氵 (“river”) + phonetic 兄 (OC *hmraŋ).

Han compound

My wrongdoings have been excessive. Even I myself understand this, let alone you, my liege? May you banish me henceforth.

Chén zhī zuì shènduō yǐ. Chén yóu zhī zhī, ér kuàng jūn hū? Qǐng yóucǐ wáng.

臣之罪甚多矣。臣猶知之，而況君乎？請由此亡。

臣之罪甚多矣。臣犹知之，而况君乎？请由此亡。

I have not heard of one who bent himself, and at the same time made others straight; how much less could one disgrace himself, and thereby rectify the whole kingdom?

Mencius, c. 4ᵗʰ century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Wú wèi wén wǎngjǐ ér zhèngrén zhě yě, kuàng rǔjǐ yǐ zhèng tiānxià zhě hū?

吾未聞枉己而正人者也，況辱己以正天下者乎？

吾未闻枉己而正人者也，况辱己以正天下者乎？


欠

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵¹/

/t͡ɕʰiɛn²¹³/

/t͡ɕʰiɛn²¹³/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³²⁴/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵¹/

/t͡ɕʰiɛn²¹³/

/t͡ɕʰiɛn²¹³/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³²⁴/

Characters in the same phonetic series (欠) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – a kneeling person with mouth open for various reasons (e.g., begging 欠, speaking and/or spitting while speaking 次, blowing 吹, singing 歌, desiring 欲, being tired 軟, vomiting 歐...).
The reversed version of this character is 㒫 > 旡 (e.g. 既), which must not be confused with 无.
Similar but unrelated to 卩, in which the person kneeling has the mouth shut.


泅

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *lju): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 囚 (OC *lju).
Possibly a dialectal variant of 游 (OC *lu, “to swim”) (Schuessler, 2007).


歡

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qʰoːn): phonetic 雚 (OC *koːns) + semantic 欠.


汁

Unclear. Schuessler (2007) lists several proposals:
* related to Tibetan ཆབ (chab, “water”) (Coblin, 1986)), yet initial velars do not palatize in Written Tibetan;
* related to Jingpho [script needed] (məgyep, “liquor”);
* related to Burmese ချိပ် (hkyip, “lac”), Proto-Loloish *C-gripᴸ (“lac; pine”) (Peiros & Starostin, 1996, STEDT), if so from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-kryap (“bug, ant, cochineal, lac insect”) (whence also 蠟 (OC *raːb) "wax");
Likely related to 湆 (OC *kʰrɯb) & 協 (OC *ɦleːb) (汁 (OC *kjub)'s dialectal synonym attested east of Tong Pass); yet not to 瀋 (OC *l̥ʰjɯmʔ) (Schuessler, 2007).
; Hong Kong Cantonese "source"


沃

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qoːwɢ): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 夭 (OC *qoːwʔ, *qrow, *qrowʔ) – to irrigate with water.


沫

Probably from a Mon-Khmer substrate; compare Vietnamese bọt (“foam; froth”) (Norman and Mei, 1976). Also compare Mizo phûl (“scum; froth; foam”) (Schuessler, 2007).


歲

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (歲):
* → Japanese: 歳(さい) (sai)
* → Korean: 세(歲) (se)
* → Vietnamese: tuế (歲)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sqʰʷads, *sqʰʷad): semantic 步 + phonetic 戉 (OC *ɢʷad) to indicate the passing of time as "movement". Hence, the original version was close to 𢧁. In addition to 戉, various components such as 月 (“moon; month”) used to be present, sometimes as simple as two dots.
The current form derives from the Qin-style handwriting of the late Warring States (with a full-width 止 on the top and a bottom-left 撇 stroke extending outward as in 戊 or 戌 instead of bending inward as in 戉), which was also inherited by the clerical script.
A derivative of 越 (OC *ɢʷad, “to pass over”) (Mei, 1979, 1992). Ultimately probably from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *grwat (“to travel; to go through”); compare Tibetan སྐྱོད (skyod, “to go”) (Mei, 1979, 1992; Gong Hwang-cherng, 2002; STEDT).
The functions of the *s- prefix and the *-s suffix are not clear. Possible explanations include:
* *s- as a directive prefix and *-s as a nominalizer (Mei, 1992);
* *s- is an iterative prefix, literally "to pass on again" (Schuessler, 2007);
* *s- (possibly with *-s) as a nominalizer (Smith, 2012).
Alternatively, it may be derived from a word like 圓 (OC *ɢon, “round; circle”) (< Proto-Sino-Tibetan *wal (“round; circular”)), literally "to start the circle/cycle again" (Schuessler, 2007).
Outside of Sino-Tibetan, this word has been compared to Thai ขวบ (kùuap, “year”), which Bodman (1980) considers to be a loan from Chinese, as well as Proto-Austronesian *kawaS (“year; season; sky”) (Sagart, 2005).
Also see Schuessler (2007) and Smith (2012) for a discussion on the semantic development of this word, especially the connection between "Jupiter" and "year".

cog

岁
嵗
亗
㞸
㱑
歳
𡻕
𫞓
𢧡
𢧁
𭭚
㒸
⿵𡶔𡭕

Tai Sui, the god representing each of these years


浙

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔljed): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 折 (OC *l'eːl, *ʔljed, *ɦljed).

Han compound

(～江) (historical) Zhe River (former name of the Qiantang River in Zhejiang, China)

Short for 浙江 (Zhèjiāng, “Zhejiang Province”).


泛

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (泛):
* → Japanese: 汎(はん) (han); 汎(ほん) (hon)
* → Korean: 범(泛) (beom)
* → Vietnamese: phiếm (泛)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰoms, *bob): semantic 氵 + phonetic 乏 (OC *bob).
Sino-Tibetan. Compare Tibetan འབྱམ ('byam, “to flow over; to diffuse”) (Bodman, 1980).


殷

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
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

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): a pregnant woman (身, now written reversed as 㐆) next to a hand grabbing a hammer or mallet (now written 殳). However, in this character, the hand could be grabbing a needle for acupuncture.
The character is partly unclear, however the original meaning was either referred to pain and medical treatment and/or to "abundance, prosperity" in reference to the swollen abdomen.


段

→ Thai: ตอน (dtɔɔn)

In the bronze script it is a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *doːns) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): phonetic 厂 (OC *hŋaːnʔ, *hŋaːns) + semantic 殳, showing a hammer in hand breaking a stone with fragments coming off (Li Xueqin, 2012); 殳 was the pictogram of a hammer and later was borrowed to indicate a bamboo halberd. Most of the character is identical to 叚.

Han compound

Classifier for a distance or a period of time.


洛

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡ·raːɡ): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 各 (OC *klaːɡ).

Han compound

(～河) Luo River, a tributary of the Wei River.


樽

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (樽):
* → Japanese: 樽(そん) (son)

/t͡sɐn²¹³⁻⁵⁵/

/t͡sɐn²¹³⁻⁵⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsuːn): semantic 木 (“wood”) + phonetic 尊 (OC *ʔsuːn).
Specialised orthographic form of 尊 (OC *ʔsuːn, “zun, a kind of vessel”) that inherited the noun sense for "vessel", as 尊 became chiefly used for the more abstract senses (Duan Yucai's analysis of the Shuowen).

Han compound

玻璃樽 [Cantonese] ― bo¹ lei⁴⁻¹ zeon¹ [Jyutping] ― glass bottle

(Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew, Leizhou Min, Zhongshan Min) bottle; vase (Classifier: 個／个 c)

一樽酒 [Cantonese] ― jat¹ zeon¹ zau² [Jyutping] ― a bottle of wine

The bottle of soy sauce we bought yesterday is already used up today?

kam⁴ jat⁶ maai⁵ go² zeon¹ si⁶ jau⁴, gam¹ jat⁶ zau⁶ jung⁶ saai³ laa⁴?

琴日買嗰樽豉油，今日就用嗮嗱？

琴日买嗰樽豉油，今日就用嗮嗱？

(Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew) Classifier for bottles.


槍

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (槍):
* → Korean: 창(槍) (chang)
* → Vietnamese: thương (槍)

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑŋ⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰi̯oŋ²⁴/

/t͡ɕʰi̯æn³³/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑŋ⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰi̯oŋ²⁴/

/t͡ɕʰi̯æn³³/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰaŋ, *sʰraːŋ): semantic 木 + phonetic 倉 (OC *sʰaːŋ).

Han compound

槍替／枪替

to sit for an examination in place of someone else

請槍／请枪 [Cantonese] ― ceng² coeng¹ [Jyutping] ― to hire somebody to substitute oneself to sit an examination


沉

Austroasiatic languages
Kra–Dai_languages
Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area
Tibeto-Burman languages

Variant of 沈, see there for more.
MSEA areal etymon: similar words exist in Austroasiatic, Kra-Dai, & Tibeto-Burman; yet those are difficult to match with potential OC relations (Schuessler, 2007).
Possible allofams are 淫 (OC *lɯm), 瀋 (OC *l̥ʰjɯmʔ), 函 (OC *ɡuːm, *ɡruːm), & 湛 (OC *ʔl'uːm, *r'uːmʔ, *l'um) (ibid.).


小

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (小):
* → Japanese: 小(しょう) (shō)
* → Korean: 소(小) (so)
* → Vietnamese: tiểu (小)

Two possible interpretations:
* Ideogram (指事) – three small dots > small.
* Pictogram (象形) – three granules of sand – original character of 沙 (OC *sraːl, *sraːls) > small.
Starting from some bronze inscriptions, the dots have become elongated. Based on this form, Shuowen erroneously considers it to be an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 八 (“to divide; to separate”) + 丨 (“small object”).
Compare with 少 (OC *hmjewʔ, *hmjews), represented by four dots in its oracle bone script form. Unrelated to the bottom part of 京, 示, 尞, and 原.
Often thought to be related to 少 (OC *hmjewʔ, *hmjews) (e.g. Wang, 1982), but Schuessler (2007) points out that the alternation between Middle Chinese /s-/ and /ɕ-/ within a word family is exceptional.

Han compound

小一

Short for 小學／小学 (xiǎoxué, “primary school”).

Used with a number to indicate the level of primary education.


汽

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰɯds): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 气 (OC *kʰɯds).
Alternatively, an Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 氵 (“water”) + 气 (“air”) - steam. Quite possibly both of these origins could be true, out of convenience.
From 氣／气 (qì).


殿

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (殿):
* → Vietnamese: điện (殿)

Shuowen: Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tɯːns, *dɯːns): phonetic 𡱂 (OC *duːn) + semantic 殳 (“hand holding a weapon”) – the sound of hitting (not attested in ancient documents).
Chi (2010) considers the character to be developed from 𠂤 (“buttocks”); 尸 (“body”) and 丌 (“pedestal”) are added to form 𡱂 (“buttocks”), and 殳 is added to emphasize the meaning of “hitting the buttocks”.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-t(u/i)l (“buttocks; heel; dull; blunt; rounded part”). Compare Jingpho shatin (“buttocks”). Related to 臀 (OC *duːn, “buttocks”) (Schuessler, 2007).
Whether “lofty building” is related is unclear; Chi (2010) suggests that it is a semantic extension of “buttocks”, which are elevated from the ground.


毫

→ Classical Mongolian: ᠬᠣᠤ (qou)

Mongolian: ᠬᠣᠤ (qou)

→ Thai: เครา (krao)

Obsolete. 皮 is used for SI prefix pico-.


樹

/t͡sʰiɛu²¹³/

/t͡sʰiɛu²¹³/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djoʔ, *djos) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): semantic 木 (“tree”) + phonetic 尌 (OC *djos, “a hand planting a tree”).
Originally written 尌, see there for more.
Area word (Schuessler, 2007): Mizo tuh (“to plant, to sow”), Khmer ដុះ (doh, “to grow, to bud”). Starostin compares it with Tibetan གདོས (gdos), གདོས་པ (gdos pa, “mast”) and Burmese ထူ (htu, “to erect (a post), to raise (a flag)”).
Related to 豎 (OC *djoʔ, “to erect; to make vertical”).

och-l

树
𣗬
尌
𡬾
𣕒
𣗳
侸
𠊪
𣚤
𢒳

盤栽

chiefly to transplant, Zhangzhou Hokkien, chiefly to transplant

別樹一幟

别树一帜

楊樹

杨树

柳樹

柳树

Behind the wall of my backyard you can see two trees: one is a jujube tree, the other is also a jujube tree.

1924, Lu Xun, “Autumn Night”, in Wild Grass (English translation based on one by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang)

Zài wǒ de hòuyuán, kěyǐ kànjiàn qiáng wài yǒu liǎng zhū shù, yī zhū shì zǎoshù, háiyǒu yī zhū yě shì zǎoshù.

在我的後園，可以看見牆外有兩株樹，一株是棗樹，還有一株也是棗樹。

在我的后园，可以看见墙外有两株树，一株是枣树，还有一株也是枣树。

tree (Classifier: 棵 m w; 株 m; 樖 c; 叢／丛 mn; 頭／头 h; 蔸 md)

紅黑樹

红黑树

決策樹

决策树


歸

Characters in the same phonetic series (追) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 𠂤 (“ancient form of 師 (“troops”)”) + 帚 (“broom; sweep”) – to eradicate the enemy and return.
Some analyse the 帚 component in the oracle bone script as a ligature of 止 (“to stop, to cease”) and 方 (“peripheral tribes”), i.e. “(of tribes in the periphery) to cease enmity and submit”.
A 止 (“foot”) or 辵 (“walking”) component was further added in the bronze inscriptions.
Shuowen deems 𠂤 to be the phonetic component of this character.
Starostin and Schuessler (2007) consider this a possible derivative of 回 (OC *ɡuːl, “to revolve; to return”). Compared with Tibetan འཁོར ('khor, “circle; turn; to turn round; to return”) by Xue (2001) and Wang (2007).

cog

归
皈
𦤇
帰
㱕
㷌
䢜
𨺔
𨺜
𢅨
𢅦


泰

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tʰaːds): phonetic 大 (OC *daːds, *daːds, “big; great”) + semantic 廾 (“two hands”) + semantic 水 (“water”). A more conservative variant is 𡙌. The 大 and 廾 later fused into 𡗗. Its original meaning according to Shuowen Jiezi was "to slip", perhaps with a reference to seize something wet or to seize a liquid with bare hands. Then it became "too ", which was written either as 太 or 𡙌 > 泰 or as its variant 冭, perhaps due to the influence of its pronunciation and/or the top component of the character, which has a reference to a great quantity (hence it adds part of the meaning).
Same word as 太 (OC *tʰaːds, “great; greatest; excessive”); both are derived from 大 (OC *daːds, *daːds, “big”).


淤

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qa, *qas): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 於 (OC *qaː, *qa).


毒

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (毒):
* → Japanese: 毒(どく) (doku)
* → Korean: 독(毒) (dok)
* → Vietnamese: độc (毒)

→ Vietnamese: thuốc (“drug”)

desc

→ Zhuang: doeg (“poison; to poison; evil”)

Pictogram (象形) - a woman wearing a feathered ornament - original form of 纛 (OC *duːɡs, *duːɡ). If this is the correct interpretation, see also 每.
Alternatively, Li Xueqin (2012) proposes it is a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'uːɡ): semantic 屮 (“vegetation”) + phonetic 毐 (OC *ʔmɯː, *ʔmɯːʔ), meaning "a type of poisonous plant."
; “poison”
; “to poison” (Pronunciation 2)
; “nerdy”

Han compound

𭖪
𡴛
𡹆
𥲮
𦸕
𫦚
𧉉
𤯟
杜
餖
透
𭖪
踱
喥

有毒


毒

𭖪
𡴛
𡹆
𥲮
𦸕
𫦚
𧉉
𤯟
杜
餖
透
𭖪
踱
喥

Used in 毒冒, which is an alternative form of 玳瑁 (dàimào)


毒

𭖪
𡴛
𡹆
𥲮
𦸕
𫦚
𧉉
𤯟
杜
餖
透
𭖪
踱
喥

(Northern Wu) Alternative form of 踱 (8doq, “dumb,dull”)


望

→ Thai: มอง (mɔɔng, “watch, look”)

Burmese language
Proto-Sino-Tibetan language

Originally written 𦣠, an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 臣 (“eye”) + 𡈼 (“person standing on the ground”) – a person standing up and looking off into the distance. Later 月 (“moon”) was added to produce 朢.
The 臣 component is now written 亡, making the current form a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *maŋ, *maŋs): phonetic 亡 (OC *maŋ) + semantic 月 + semantic 𡈼.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mraŋ (“to see”). Cognate with Burmese မြင် (mrang).

Han compound

朢
𣈂
𦣠
𥩿
𣍢
𥪛
𢾘
𭱗

朔望月

In the year 1081, the seventh moon just on the wane, I went with a friend on a boat excursion to the Red Wall.

1082, Su Shi (蘇軾), The Red Wall: Summer (《前赤壁賦》). English translation by Herbert Allen Giles.

Rénxū zhī qiū, qīyuè jìwàng, Sūzǐ yǔ kè fànzhōu yóu yú Chìbì zhī xià.

壬戌之秋，七月既望，蘇子與客泛舟遊於赤壁之下。

壬戌之秋，七月既望，苏子与客泛舟游于赤壁之下。

(Chinese astronomy) the day or night of the full moon


泳

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷraŋs): semantic 氵 + phonetic 永 (OC *ɢʷraŋʔ).
Possibly related to Thai ว่าย (wâai, “to swim”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

The breadth of the Han
Cannot be dived across.

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

漢之廣矣，不可泳思。

汉之广矣，不可泳思。


止

Characters in the same phonetic series (止) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – a footprint pointing up, originally meaning "foot". The derivative 趾 (OC *kjɯʔ) refers to the original meaning. Compare 手 (“hand”). Note that in oracle script, composed of 3 toes and a sole.
Compare to 夊, 夂, which have similar shape in oracle script, but pointing down (toe pointing right), and 𡕒 (as in right side of 舛, roughly ヰ, toe pointing left), hence different evolution.


洪

→ English: Hong; Hung; Ang

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡloːŋ): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 共 (OC *kloŋ, *ɡloŋs).

Han compound

Hong Xiuquan (leader of the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing dynasty)

洪秀全


沈

In the third year's spring, Zhuangshu gathered the various princes' armies and attacked Shen, because it had submitted to Chu. Shen was routed. Whenever the people deserted their superiors, it's called "rout"; when superiors do so, it's called "desert".

Sānnián, chūn, Zhuāngshū huì zhūhóu zhī shī fá Shěn, yǐ qí fú yú chǔ yě, Shěn kuì. Fán mín táo qí shàng yuē kuì, zàishàng yuē táo.

三年，春，莊叔會諸侯之師伐沈，以其服於楚也，沈潰。凡民逃其上曰潰，在上曰逃。

三年，春，庄叔会诸侯之师伐沈，以其服于楚也，沈溃。凡民逃其上曰溃，在上曰逃。

(historical) Shen, a state during the Zhou dynasty and located in modern-day Henan


求

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯³⁵/

Pictogram (象形) of a centipede. Original form of 蛷 (OC *ɡu).
Likely cognate with 救 (OC *kus, “to save, help”), Burmese ကူ (ku, “to help”) (STEDT).

求他別走

求他别走


永

Pictogram (象形) of a long river with tributaries. Cognate with 𠂢, 派.
Alternatively, pictogram (象形) of a person swimming in the water. Original form of 泳 (OC *ɢʷraŋs).
Uncertain.
* STEDT compares 永 (OC *ɢʷraŋʔ) to provisional Proto-Lolo-Burmese meso-root *ʔ-m(y)aŋ¹/³;
* Bodman (1980) derived 永 (OC *ɢʷraŋʔ) from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *wrjaŋ & considered it cognate with Lepcha ᰝᰥᰤᰰ (hryăn) as well as Tibetan རྒྱོང་བ (rgyong ba, “to extend; to stretch”) and རྒྱང་མ (rgyang ma, “distance”);
* Schuessler (2007) considered to be unclear any connection with 泂 (OC *ɡʷeːŋʔ) and Tibetan རིང (ring, “to be tall, long”), Western Tamang rehng pā (“to be long”), Burmese ရှည် (hrany, “to be long”), (all from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-r(i/u)ŋ (“to be long, to elongate”)) & Proto-Loloish *s/m-riŋ (“long (adv.)”); so Schuessler compared 永 (OC *ɢʷraŋʔ) to Khmer វែង (vɛɛng, “long”) and Khmer បង្វែង (bɑngvaeng, “to prolong, divert, mislead, deceive”) (both from Proto-Mon-Khmer *waiŋ (“long”)).

och-l

泂 (OC *ɡʷeːŋʔ)

cog

53rd tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "eternity" (𝌺)


淮

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡʷriːl): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 隹 (OC *tjul)
Yang (1999) suggests a derivation from the bird (隹) totem worship of the Huaiyi that inhabited the Huai river basin.


我

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (我):
* → Japanese: 我(が) (ga)
* → Korean: 아(我) (a)
* → Vietnamese: ngã (我)

Wutunhua: nga, ngu

→ Betawi: gua (via Min Nan)

→ Indonesian: gua, gue

→ Malay: gua (via Min Nan)

→ Thai: อั๊ว (úua)

A pictogram (象形) of a trident-like weapon or tool (note the oracle bone script form 𢦐). Jao & Zeng (1985, pp. 289–290) conjecture about its similarity to a kind of three-bladed polearm found at archaeological sites. Cf. 戈 (gē, “polearm”), which is the same weapon but with a single blade instead of three. It was already borrowed for sound to mean "I" (in the sense of "first-person subject") since the oracle bone script.
Guo Moruo considers it to be the original character for 錡 (OC *ɡral, “a kind of war axe with three blades or teeth”).
Folk etymology considers it to be an ideograph of a hand (手 (shǒu)) holding a weapon (戈 (gē)) to protect oneself.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ŋa-j ~ ka. Cognate with 吾 (OC *ŋaː), Burmese ငါ (nga, “I”), Hakka 𠊎 (ngài). The expected Mandarin pronunciation is ě (now only found in a few Northern dialects); wǒ is "a col[loquial] archaism" (Schuessler, 2007).

och-l

吾
𠨂
𢦐
𢦓
𢦖
𢦠
𨈟
𩇶

used without 的; GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)

(obsolete) to stubbornly hold to one's own opinion


權

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (權):
* → Japanese: 権(けん) (ken)
* → Korean: 권(權) (gwon)
* → Vietnamese: quyền (權)

→ Zhuang: gienz

/t͡ɕʰy̯ɛn³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰy̯ɛn³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡron): semantic 木 (“tree”) + phonetic 雚 (OC *koːns) – a type of tree named 黃華 (Shuowen); phonetically borrowed for "standard weight".
From 拳 (OC *ɡron, “fist”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

權且

权且

權充

权充


洲

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tju): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 州 (OC *tju).
Unknown.
According to the Erya and the Shiming, the following characters show some notable semantic relations (Schuessler, 2007)
: 渚 (OC *tjaʔ, “islet”) is smaller than 洲 (OC *tju)
: 沚 (OC *kjɯʔ, “islet”) is smaller than 渚 (OC *tjaʔ)
: 坻 (OC *tiːlʔ, *tjelʔ, *dil, “islet”) is smaller than 沚 (OC *kjɯʔ)


淑

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɦljɯwɢ): semantic 氵 + phonetic 叔 (OC *hljɯwɢ).


時

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (時):
* → Japanese: 時(じ) (ji)
* → Korean: 시(時) (si)
* → Vietnamese: thời (時), thì (時)

→ Vietnamese: giờ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djɯ): semantic 日 (“sun; day”) + phonetic 寺 (OC *ljɯs). The phonetic component however represents a footprint pointing up, which could be linked to the concept of the movement of the sun and hence the passing of time.
In ancient scripts, it had the form 旹, with 之 (OC *tjɯ) as the phonetic instead (as well as a reference to the passing of time). The component 寸 was added later.
; "time", "duration"
; "this"

Han compound

沉寂多時

沉寂多时

時不我待

时不我待

While we are still young, we have plenty of time to put our talent to good use.

The Verses of Chu, 4ᵗʰ century BCE – 2ⁿᵈ century CE

Jí niánsuì zhī wèi yàn xī, shí yì yóu qí wèiyāng.

及年歲之未晏兮，時亦猶其未央。

及年岁之未晏兮，时亦犹其未央。

sometimes fast, sometimes slow; in a variable speed

時快時慢

时快时慢

時有發生

时有发生


橫

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡʷraːŋ, *ɡʷraːŋs, *kʷaːŋ): semantic 木 (“wood”) + phonetic 黃 (OC *ɡʷaːŋ).
; “crosswise > door rail; side; cross-grained; unrestrained”
* Related to 衡 (OC *ɡraːŋ, “crossbar”), 桁 (OC *ɡaːŋ, *ɡraːŋ, “purlin”), 珩 (OC *ɡraːŋ, “top horizontal gem of a girdle-pendant”) and 璜 (OC *ɡʷaːŋ, “jade pendant”) (Wang, 1982), and possibly 樑 (OC *raŋ, “roof beam”) (Schuessler, 2007).
* Schuessler (2007) connects these with Khmer ខ្វែង (khvaeng, “to cross; to intersect; to crisscross; diagonal; etc.”) < Old Khmer khveṅ (“to go far around; to encircle; to enclose”). Compare Thai ขวาง (kwǎang, “to lie across; to bar; to obstruct; to thwart”) and the Khmer derivatives កំពែង (kɑmpɛɛng, “enclosing wall; rampart”), កំពង់ (kɑmpŭəng, “crossing-place; ford; port; shore”) (cf. Malay kampung).

cog

(historical) Horizontal Alliance, i.e. states during the Warring States period in Chinese history which ally with Qin to participate in its ascendancy


津

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔslin): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 𦘔 (). 𦘔 (pronounced "jīn") has been simplified into the partly related 聿 (OC *b·lud) in the clerical script.
From 濟 (OC *ʔsliːls, “to ferry”) + nominal suffix *-n (Schuessler, 2007).


極

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡɯɡ): semantic 木 (“tree, wood”) + phonetic 亟 (OC *kʰɯɡs, *kɯɡ) – originally meaning a crossbeam rafter.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kak (“expensive; at its peak”) (STEDT). Cognate with 亟 (OC *kɯɡ, “urgent”), 殛 (OC *kɯɡ, “to kill”) (Schuessler, 2007).

inh

痛苦極了

痛苦极了

極不滿意

极不满意

肥牛切得極薄。

肥牛切得极薄。


浩

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡuːʔ, *kuːb): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 告 (OC *kuːɡs, *kuːɡ)


渣

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsraː): semantic 氵 + phonetic 查 (OC *ʔsraː, *zraː, *zraː).


湘

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *slaŋ): semantic 水 + phonetic 相 (OC *slaŋ, *slaŋs).
;“Short for Hunan”

Han compound

(～江, ～水) Xiang River, an affluent of Dongting Lake


欲

𡟔
俗
覓
卜
發
勃
剝
憋

(Eastern Min, Southern Min) Alternative form of 愛／爱

Alternative form of 愛／爱
to need to; must


書

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (書):
* → Japanese: 書(しょ) (sho)
* → Korean: 서(書) (seo)
* → Vietnamese: thư (書)

→ Proto-Tai: *sɯːᴬ

Thai: สือ (sʉ̌ʉ)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hlja): semantic 聿 (“writing brush”) + phonetic 者 (OC *tjaːʔ).
Unknown (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

As a child, Xiang Yu tried to learn (to read and write) Chinese characters but failed and gave it up; then he tried to learn swordplay, but failed too. Xiang Liang was angry with him. Yu said, "Characters are useful for writing names only. Neither is swordplay worth learning as it can only stand up to one person. I want to learn something that can resist ten thousand people.

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

Xiàng Jí shàoshí xué shū, bùchéng, qù; xué jiàn, yòu bùchéng. Xiàng Liáng nù zhī. Jí yuē: “Shū zúyǐ jì xìngmíng éryǐ. Jiàn yī rén dí, bùzú xué, xué wàn rén dí.”

項籍少時學書，不成，去；學劍，又不成。項梁怒之。籍曰：「書足以記姓名而已。劍一人敵，不足學，學萬人敵。」

项籍少时学书，不成，去；学剑，又不成。项梁怒之。籍曰：「书足以记姓名而已。剑一人敌，不足学，学万人敌。」

(literary) Chinese character; writing; script

說書

说书

to listen to performance of pingshu (storytelling)

聽書

听书

Short for 書經／书经 (Shūjīng, “the Classic of History”).


涉

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 水 (“water”) + 步 (“walk”) – to wade across.
Its oracle bone script and bronze inscription were composed of a 水 and two 止 (“foot”), depicting two feet on both sides of the water. Two forms, however, were given in Shuowen, with the first one consisting of a 步 sandwiched between two 水, and the second a 水 to the left of a 步, the predecessor of the current form.


泉

/t͡ɕʰy̯ɛn³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰy̯ɛn³⁵/

Pictogram (象形) or ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 白 (“spring mouth”) + 水 (“water”) – water flowing from the source of a spring. See also 原.
Schuessler (2007) minimally reconstructs the Old Chinese as *dzwan and also reconstructs Proto-Tibeto-Burman *tso (“to bubble; to boil”) (> Tibetan འཚོད་པ ('tshod pa, “to be boiled”), Tibetan བཙོས (btsos, “to cook in boiling water”), Burmese ဆူ (hcu, “to boil; to bubble”)), and considers 泉 (OC *sɡʷen, “spring (of water)”) to be cognate to it (with an n-suffix nominalization). However, STEDT considers the above three Tibeto-Burman terms to be descended from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *tsjow (“to boil; to burn; to bake; to bake”), to which 焦 (OC *ʔsew, “to roast; to burn; to scorch”) is cognate.


渺

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mewʔ): semantic 氵 + phonetic 眇 (OC *mewʔ).


游

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *lu): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 斿 (OC *lu).
From Sino-Tibetan. Cognate with Tibetan རྒྱུ་བ (rgyu ba, “to walk; to wander”), Lepcha ᰚᰪᰌᰦ (yŭ-da, “to flow”), Rawang yø (“to flow”) (Schuessler, 2007).
Same word as 遊 (OC *lu, “to roam; to travel”). Cognate with 流 (OC *ru, “to flow”), 泅 (OC *lju). Probably unrelated to 油 (OC *lɯw, “abundant”), 滺 (“flowing”).

cog

他游得最遠。

他游得最远。

他們一起游向那艘船。

他们一起游向那艘船。


汗

蒙古大汗


浸

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsims, *sʰim): semantic 水 + phonetic 𡩠 ().
Cognate with Burmese စိမ် (cim, “to steep; to soak”), Burmese စိမ့် (cim., “to seep; to ooze”) (Schuessler, 2007). Probably unrelated to 沉 (OC *l'um).

cog

濅
寖
𥧲
𣹰
㴆
䆮
𣹦
濅
寖
𥧲
𣹰
㴆
䆮
𣹦
沉


淵

Originally 𣶒 in oracle bone script; Pictogram (象形) of a basin with water. Bronze inscriptions added vertical strokes resembling riverbanks around the character, and the semantic component 氵.

渊
囦
𣶒
𡇋
𫂱
渕
渆
渁
灁
㴊
㶜
𣴺
𡆼
𣴸
𠝃
𣾬


注

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjos): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 主 (OC *tjoʔ).
Perhaps cognate with 枓, whose original meaning is "spoon, ladle".

Han compound

注射

注入


格

Characters in the same phonetic series (各) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *klaːɡ, *kraːɡ): semantic 木 (“wood”) + phonetic 各 (OC *klaːɡ).
; “to go; to come; to arrive”
: Baxter (1992) proposes that this is related to 路 (OC *ɡ·raːɡs, “road”). Compare 客 (OC *kʰraːɡ, “guest, visitor”), 旅 (OC *ɡ·raʔ, “travel, lodge”), and 行 (OC *ɡaːŋ, *ɡaːŋs, *ɡraːŋ, *ɡraːŋs, “to go”)
; “to obstruct; to hinder”
; “frame; square”
; “style; form; pattern; standard; personality; character”

och-l

The Di said, "Come, you Shun. I have consulted you on affairs, and examined your words, and found that they can be carried into practice."

The Book of Documents, circa 4ᵗʰ – 3ʳᵈ century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Dì yuē: “Gé, rǔ Shùn. Xún shì kǎo yán, nǎi yán zhǐ kě jì.”

帝曰：「格，汝舜。詢事考言，乃言厎可績。」

帝曰：「格，汝舜。询事考言，乃言厎可绩。」

On the first day of the first month, Shun went to (the temple of) the Accomplished Ancestor.

月正元日，舜格于文祖。


梅

→ Malay: boi

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (梅):
* → Japanese: 梅(ばい) (bai)
* → Korean: 매(梅) (mae)
* → Vietnamese: mai (梅)

→? Old Japanese: 梅 (ume₂)

Japanese: 梅(うめ) (ume), 梅(むめ) (mume)

→ Vietnamese: mơ

/muːi̯²¹⁻³⁵/

/ᵐbᵘɔi²²⁻²²⁵/

/muːi̯²¹⁻³⁵/

/ᵐbᵘɔi²²⁻²²⁵/

Chinese civilization
Yangtze River
Zhongyuan

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mɯː): semantic 木 (“tree”) + phonetic 每 (OC *mɯːʔ).
Seemingly related to Old Japanese 梅 (ume₂) (Shibatani, 1990; Miyake, 1997; apud Schuessler, 2007) (which was possibly borrowed from Middle Chinese). Its origin is unknown (Schuessler, 2007); its referent, Prunus mume, originated around the Yangtze River, now in south China yet initially outside the Chinese civilization's cradle in the Central Plain.

Han compound

坆
𣏁
𣐥
楳
𣒫
栂
槑
𤯏

話梅

话梅

烏梅

乌梅

Prunus mume (Chinese plum or Japanese apricot)

蠟梅

蜡梅

茶梅

楊梅

杨梅

西梅

(in compounds) A plant sharing similarities with Prunus mume in habit, flowers or fruits

(obsolete) Alternative name for 楠 (nán, “Machilus nanmu”).


渡

Proto-Tai: *daːᴮ (“river”)

Lao: ທ່າ (thā)

Lü: ᦑᦱᧈ (taa¹)

desc

Shan: တႃႈ (tāa, “pier; shallow place in water”)

Thai: ท่า (tâa, “pier; port”)

Zhuang: dah (“river”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *daːɡs): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 度 (OC *daːɡs, *daːɡ).
Inherited from Proto-Sino-Tibetan. Cognate with Tibetan འདས ('das, “to pass over”).
Proto-Tai *daːᴮ (“river”) (whence Thai ท่า (tâa, “port; pier; quay”) and Zhuang dah (“river”)) is a loan from late Old Chinese (Schuessler, 2007).
The Austroasiatic synonym of 渡 is 濟 (OC *ʔsliːlʔ, *ʔsliːls, “to cross a river”).

och-l

(Hakka) to look after; to take care of; to care for; to attend to


液

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *laːɡ): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 夜 (OC *laːɡs) – a liquid, like water.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-rjak (“oil; fat; grease”).

inh

(Hokkien) sweat-like secretions (from one's hand, foot, etc.)


滄

Characters in the same phonetic series (倉) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰaːŋ, *sʰraŋs): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 倉 (OC *sʰaːŋ).


涯

From a root *ŋ(ˤ)rar (“slope, nearly vertical side”), whence also 巘 (OC *ŋ(r)ar(ʔ), “hill”), 山 (OC *s-ŋrar, “mountain”), and 顏 (OC *C.ŋˤrar, “forehead”) (Baxter & Sagart, 2014).
Same word as 崖 (yá, “cliff”) and 睚 (yá, “rim (of the eye)”) (Schuessler, 2007).

(literary, or in compounds) limit; boundary; margin


滕

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'ɯːŋ): phonetic 朕 (OC *l'ɯmʔ) + semantic 水 (“water”).


漪

zh-l

漣漪／涟漪 (liányī)


此

Characters in the same phonetic series (此) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 止 (“feet”) + 人 (“person”) – where a person stops; here.
Alternatively, this may be the original form of 跐 (OC *ʔsreːʔ, *ʔseʔ, *sʰeʔ, *ʔsreʔ, “to stamp, to stop, to stand”).
Cognate with 斯 (OC *se, “this”).
STEDT compares 此 (OC *sʰeʔ) and 斯 (OC *se) to Proto-Tani *si (“this”).

och-l

請按此。

请按此。

The Great Sage Equal to Heaven came here on a trip.

Wu Cheng'en, Journey to the West, 16ᵗʰ century CE

齊天大聖到此一遊。

齐天大圣到此一游。


步

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 止 (“foot”) + 止 (“foot”) reversed – one foot in front of the other. Compare: 夅, 舛, other characters deriving from "two feet". See also the inner component of 歲. Unrelated to 少.

Han compound

歨
𣥕
歩
𡵯
𰰦
𣥗
𣥶
𩣝


武

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (武):
* → Japanese: 武(ぶ) (bu)
* → Korean: 무(武) (mu)
* → Vietnamese: võ (武), vũ (武)

Characters in the same phonetic series (武) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 戈 (“blade”) + 止 (“foot; to walk; to stop”) – army going on an expedition. In the character 武, the 戈 component is written above the 止 component.
The graphical origin of 武 as “to stop violence” — the ultimate state of just warfare — is traditionally attributed to King Zhuang of Chu [597 BCE]:
Linguistically, this was likely a misinterpretation, as 止 always means “to walk” (趾) when used as a radical, compare 步 (bù), 歷／历 (lì) and 歧 (qí).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-mak (“war, army, soldier”). Cognate with Tibetan དམག (dmag, “army”), Burmese မက် (mak) (as in ရဲမက် (rai:mak, “soldier”) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007; Sagart, 2017d).

inh

Said Lord "Chǔ" (楚): “Not exactly as what you might have believed. The term itself means: stopping ("止") the blades ("戈") thus martiality ("武").”

Chǔ Zǐ yuē: “Fēi ěr suǒ zhī yě. Fú wén, zhǐ gē wéi wǔ.”

楚子曰：「非爾所知也。夫文，止戈為武。」

楚子曰：「非尔所知也。夫文，止戈为武。」


漤

漤 (Kangxi radical 85, 水+11, 14 strokes, cangjie input 水木木女 (EDDV), composition ⿰氵婪)


池

Characters in the same phonetic series (也) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'aːl, *l'al): semantic 氵 + phonetic 也 (OC *laːlʔ).
Perhaps a Sino-Tibetan word; compare Proto-Kuki-Chin *lii (“pool; lake; pond”), whence Mizo li (“quiet, deep pool”) (STEDT).

廟小妖風大，池淺王八多／庙小妖风大，池浅王八多

miào xiǎo yāofēng dà, chí qiǎn wángbā duō


淺

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn²¹⁴/

/ˈt͡ɕʰiɛn²¹³/

/t͡sʰiɛn⁵⁵⁴/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn²¹⁴/

/ˈt͡ɕʰiɛn²¹³/

/t͡sʰiɛn⁵⁵⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰlenʔ, *ʔsleːn): semantic 氵 + phonetic 戔 (OC *zlaːn).


決

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (決):
* → Vietnamese: quyết (決)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʷeːd, *qʰʷeːd): semantic 氵 + phonetic 夬 (OC *kʷraːds).
Possibly a derivative of 夬 (OC *kʷraːds, “to split”).

Han compound

决
决
𣲺
决
决
𣲺
吷
𦐍
𦐋
决
决
缺

炮決

炮决

斬立決

斩立决

(Xiamen and Quanzhou Hokkien) to execute by shooting

to execute; to put to death
to execute by shooting


決

决
决
𣲺
决
决
𣲺
吷
𦐍
𦐋
决
决
缺

to be breached; to be torn (of clothes); alternative form of 缺 (quē)


浮

→ Proto-Tai: *wuːᴬ (“to float”)

Thai: ฟู (fuu, “to float, to swell”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *bu): semantic 水 (“river”) + phonetic 孚 (OC *pʰuw).
Related to 漂 (OC *pʰew, *pʰews, “to float, drift”); see there for more.

GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)

浮水


溢

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *liɡ): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 益 (OC *qleɡ, “to increase”) – overflowing liquid.


漳

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kjaŋ): semantic 水 + phonetic 章 (OC *kjaŋ).


添

→ Vietnamese: thêm

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tʰiːm): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 忝 (OC *l̥ʰiːmʔ, *l̥ʰiːms) – to increase by pouring more water in.
Compare Proto-Tai *k.temᴬ (“full”), whence Thai เต็ม (dtem, “full”) (Manomaivibool, 1975).

Han compound

Alternative forms: 㖭 (tim¹) (Cantonese), 𠻹 (tim¹) (Cantonese)

Excuse me, two more bowls of steamed rice, please!

m⁴ goi¹, jiu³ do¹ loeng⁵ wun² baak⁶ faan⁶ tim¹ aa¹!

唔該，要多兩碗白飯添吖！

唔该，要多两碗白饭添吖！

Since there is still two hours before boarding anyway, there's no worry in napping a little more.

waang⁴ dim⁶ zung⁶ jau⁵ loeng⁵ go³ zung¹ sin¹ soeng⁵ dak¹ gei¹, zoi³ min⁴ zan⁶ tim¹ dou¹ m⁴ paa³.

橫掂仲有兩個鐘先上得機，再眠陣添都唔怕。

横掂仲有两个钟先上得机，再眠阵添都唔怕。

1998, 一同分享觀看電視的樂趣，並給予兒童適當指導 [Share the joy of watching TV and provide children with guidance], 廣播事務管理局:

Six eggs, two teaspoons of sugar, and also some orange peels.

gai¹ daan⁶⁻² luk⁶ zek³, tong⁴ ne¹ zau⁶ loeng⁵ caa⁴ ci⁴, zoi³ jau⁵ di¹ caang⁴⁻² pei⁴ tim¹.

雞蛋六隻，糖呢就兩茶匙，再有啲橙皮添。

鸡蛋六只，糖呢就两茶匙，再有啲橙皮添。

(Cantonese, Hakka, Wenzhounese) again; more


滬

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡʷaːʔ): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 扈 (OC *ɡʷaːʔ).
Probably a derivation from 互 (OC *ɡaːs, “intertwining”) (Schuessler, 2007). 扈 (OC *ɡʷaːʔ, “to stop; to prevent”) may be the same word (ibid.).

Han compound

滬語

沪语


消

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sew): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 肖 (OC *slew, *slews) – to extinguish something (with water).

Han compound

to disappear; to vanish; to die down; to settle down


條

→ Zhuang: diuz

/tʰi̯aʊ̯ɻʷ³⁵/

/tʰi̯aʊ̯ɻʷ³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'ɯːw): phonetic 攸 (OC *lɯw) + semantic 木. Originally it indicates a small branch, perhaps with some reference to a wooden stick (in the top component, there is a man warned by a hand holding a vertical stick). The bottom part of the character is unrelated to 茶.
Related to 悠 (OC *lɯw, “remote; distant”), 修 (OC *slɯw, “long and thin”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

一條紅魚／一条红鱼

一條蛇／一条蛇

一條路／一条路

一條河／一条河

一條褲子／一条裤子

一條毛／一条毛 [Cantonese] ― jat¹ tiu⁴ mou⁴ [Jyutping] ― a piece of hair

Classifier for long and thin objects or animals.


洗

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sɯːlʔ, *sɯːnʔ): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 先 (OC *sɯːn, *sɯːns).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m/b-s(j)il ~ *m/b-sjal (“to wash; to bathe”) (STEDT). Cognate with 洒 (OC *sraːls, *sɯːlʔ, “to wash”), Tibetan བསིལ (bsil, “to wash”), Mizo sil (“to wash”); more distant cognates may include Burmese ဆေး (hce:, “to wash”).

inh

洗衣

洗碗


漖

tlb

(Hokkien, Teochew, Puxian Min, Fuqing Eastern Min)


歌

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kaːl): phonetic 哥 (OC *kaːl) + semantic 欠 (“blow”). Specialized form of 哥 (OC *kaːl, “to sing”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *gaːr ~ *ga (“to dance; to sing; to leap; to stride”). Cognate with Burmese က (ka., “to dance”).

inh

歌曲

民歌

Cripple: This song is really interesting.

Chiok Sèng-tàn Ke̍k 祝聖誕劇, part 1, in 台語文數位典藏資料庫 [Digital Archive Database for Written Taiwanese]

跛：這條歌真有意思。

跛：这条歌真有意思。

song; tune (Classifier: 首 m c mn; 支 m c; 闋／阕 m; 隻／只 c w; 條／条 h mn; 塊／块 mn)


淋

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡ·rɯm, *ɡ·rɯms): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 林 (OC *ɡ·rɯm).
Related to 霖 (OC *ɡ·rɯm, “long rain”). Wang (1982) considers this cognate with 淫 (OC *lɯm, “to soak; to drench”). Also compare Hokkien 啉 (lim, “to drink”) and Teochew 啉 (lim¹, “to drink”).

Han compound

traditional Chinese medicine
traditional Chinese medicine

(traditional Chinese medicine) strangury; urinary urgency and pain on urination


潔

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *keːd): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 絜 (OC *keːd, *ɡeːd).


治

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'ɯ, *l'ɯs, *l'is): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 台 (OC *l̥ʰɯː, *l'ɯː, *l'ɯː, *lɯ) — name of a river.
Sagart (1999) relates it to 釐 (OC *rɯ, “to govern; to regulate”).


潺

(Matsu Eastern Min) spring water, water from the ground or from cracks in rocks


溪

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰeː): semantic 氵 + phonetic 奚 (OC *ɡeː).
Compare Proto-Hmong-Mien *gle, whence Chuanqiandian Cluster Miao tl̥e (“river”) (Schuessler, 2007). Also compare Tibetan རྐ (rka, “gutter; channel”) (Sagart, 2020b).

cog

(～母) (Chinese linguistics) the Middle Chinese initial of 溪 (MC khej)


溶

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *loŋ, *loŋʔ): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 容 (OC *loŋ)


淫

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *lɯm): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 㸒 ().
; “to soak; excessive; to let loose; licentious”

Han compound

(alt. form 霪) to rain for a prolonged period of time; to have continuous heavy rain


溫

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (溫):
* → Japanese: 温(おん) (on)
* → Korean: 온(溫) (on)
* → Vietnamese: ôn (溫)

→ Proto-Tai: *ʔunᴮ

Thai: อุ่น (ùn)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *quːn): semantic 水 + phonetic 𥁕 (OC *quːn).

Han compound

溫家寶

温家宝


溜

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *m·rus): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 留 (OC *m·ru, *m·rus) – name of a river.

Han compound

(～水) archaic name for the Liu River in modern-day Guangxi Province


洞

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *doːŋ, *doːŋs): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 同 (OC *doːŋ).
; “hole; cavity” > “penetrating; thorough; zero”


滇

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tiːn, *tʰiːns, *diːn): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 真 (OC *ʔljin).

Han compound

(～池) Lake Dian (lake near Kunming, Yunnan, China)


濮

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *poːɡ): semantic 水 + phonetic 僕 (OC *boːɡ, *buːɡ).


未

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (未):
* → Japanese: 未(み) (mi); 未(び) (bi)
* → Korean: 미(未) (mi)
* → Vietnamese: vị (未)

→ Vietnamese: Mùi

Pictogram (象形) – a tree with two layers of branches, or a tree's top branches not yet at full growth, signifying not grown (yet)
; "not yet"
; "eighth earthly branch"
: As for its association with the goat, Ferlus (2013) notes there is good correspondence with Austronesian Atayal miːts (“lamb”); also compare Lao ມົດ (mot, “year of the lamb”).


滷

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *raːʔ, *r̥ʰjaɡ, *l'eːɡ) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): semantic 氵 + phonetic 鹵 (OC *raːʔ).


澡

desc

→ Proto-Hmong-Mien: *ntsæwˣ (“to wash (hands)”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔslaːwʔ): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 喿 (OC *saːws).
Compare Mizo su, sûk (“to wash”), though the vowel in these forms do not correspond well with the Old Chinese form (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

洗澡

澡堂


深

Liji
Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area
Rites of Zhou

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hljum, *hljums): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 𥥍 ().
Unger (1995) that 深 (shēn) had Old Chinese initial *n- because of 淰 (shěn)'s phonetic component 念 (niàn).
Schuessler (2007) reconstructs 深 (OC *nhəm) & proposes relations to Mizo hniam (“to be low, to sink into (land)”), Burmese နိမ့် (nim., “low”), Tangkhul Naga [script needed] (kʰənim, “to be humble”), Tibetan ནེམས་ (nems, “sink a little, give way”), which Schuessler traces to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *nem (“low”), which STEDT in turn derives from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-n(i/u)(ː)p/m ~ *r/s-nyap/m (“pinch, squeeze; press, oppress; submerge, sink into, west, low, soft”). If so, 深 (OC *nhəm) is from Proto-Sino-Tibetan.
Schuessler also notices 深 (OC *nhəm)'s similarity to 沉 (OC *d-ləm), which he considers to be an areal etymon.
Possibly cognate with 探 (tàn) and 揇 (nǎn) (however, see there).
深 (OC *nhəms), "depth" (in Rites of Zhou) & whence MC ɕiɪmᴴ, is nominal derivation with suffix *-s (> departing tone).
淰 (OC *nhəmʔ), "be startled and flee (of fish); i.e. to sink into the deep" (in Liji) & whence Mandarin shěn, is endoactive derivative with *-ʔ (> rising tone).

cog

For the spokes, the depth of the stud hole in the hub equals the width of the spokes.

Fán fú, liàng qí záo shēn yǐwéi fú guǎng.

凡輻，量其鑿深以為輻廣。

凡辐，量其凿深以为辐广。


湊

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰoːs): semantic 氵 + phonetic 奏 (OC *ʔsoːs).

Han compound

to approach; to come closer; to draw near


演

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *lenʔ): semantic 氵 + phonetic 寅 (OC *lil, *lin).

Han compound

演變

演变

演化

表演

演員

演员


油

→ Vietnamese: dầu (𪽠)

Characters in the same phonetic series (由) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *lɯw, *lɯwɢs): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 由 (OC *lɯw).
;“weeb”

Han compound

石油

漏油

加油

油站

啲油未乾呀。

啲油未干呀。

油油

The teacher posted the picture that my brother coloured on the board.

lou⁵ si¹ zoeng¹ dai⁶⁻⁴ dai⁶⁻² jau⁴ go² fuk¹ waa² tip³ tong⁴.

老師將弟弟油嗰幅畫貼堂。

老师将弟弟油嗰幅画贴堂。

(Cantonese) to colour (with crayons, coloured pencils, oil pastel, etc.)

踩油

(Cantonese) Short for 油門／油门 (yóumén, “accelerator; gas pedal; throttle”).


濾

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ras): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 慮 (OC *ras).


測

/t͡sʰiɪk̚³²/

/t͡sʰiɪk̚³²/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰrɯɡ): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 則 (OC *ʔsɯːɡ) — to measure the depth of water.

Han compound

(literary or in compounds) to predict; to anticipate; to expect


滴

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *teːɡ): semantic 水 + phonetic 啻 (OC *hljeɡs).

Han compound

一滴仔

滴滴仔


手

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (手):
* → Japanese: 手(しゅ) (shu)
* → Korean: 수(手) (su)
* → Vietnamese: thủ (手)

Characters in the same phonetic series (手) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – hand and fingers. The top stroke is the bent over middle finger, while the horizontal strokes are each two fingers. Compare 爪, 寸, 九, 又, and 彐 as a stylized hand. See also the bottom part of 举 and 奉.
Note that unlike the other hand/claw characters, 手 has consistently had five fingers: a mammalian/human hand, as opposed to the three digits often found in the others.
Compare also 止 (“foot”), derived from a footprint, originally composed of 3 toes and a sole.
STEDT compares this word to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-(t)sjəw-k/ŋ (“wing; hand”) based on Karlgren's Archaic Chinese (Old Chinese) reconstruction *śi̯ôg, connecting it to Tibetan གཤོག (gshog, “wing”).
However, this comparison is not supported by more recent scholarship, in which the Old Chinese is reconstructed with an alveolar nasal (Unger, 1995; Zhengzhang, 1995; Baxter and Sagart, 2014). Evidence for the nasal initial is given in Sagart (1999):
* 杻 (“handcuffs”) can be written as 杽, so 丑 (OC *ᵇhnruʔ) (with a nasal initial) and 手 seem to be interchangeable as phonetics.
* The ancient graph 丑 resembles the graph of 又 (“right hand”). 狃 (OC *ᵇnruʔ, “animal track; claw”) seems to be the modern specialized form of 丑, which has been borrowed to represent an earthly branch.
As done by Sagart (1999), Baxter and Sagart (2014) put 杻 (OC *n̥uʔ, “handcuffs”) and 狃 (OC *Cə.nuʔ, “animal track; claw”) into the same word family as 手 (OC *n̥uʔ). Zhengzhang (1995) suggests a connection to Burmese ညှိုး (hnyui:, “forefinger”), which STEDT derives from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-njuŋ ~ *s-m-juŋ ~ *s-m-juw (“finger”).
Alternatively, Schuessler (2007) suggests a tone B endoactive derivation from 收 (OC *nhiu?, “to take; to gather”), literally “that which is doing the taking”.


漦

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sɦrɯ): phonetic 𠩺 () + semantic 水 (“water”).


渾

Characters in the same phonetic series (軍) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡuːn, *ɡuːnʔ): semantic 氵 (“river”) + phonetic 軍 (OC *kun).

Han compound

渾樸

浑朴


澤

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *rlaːɡ): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 睪 (OC *neb, *laːɡ, *kuː).


減

/t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴/

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *krɯːmʔ, *ɡrɯːmʔ): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 咸 (OC *ɡrɯːm, “seal”) - to seal off a stream of water, decreasing its flow. 咸 is the original character of 緘／缄 and also serves as a semantic component.

Han compound

减
减
减
噉
咁
𡄎
緊
减

55th tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "diminishment" (𝌼)


淚

Sino-Xenic (淚):
* → Vietnamese: lệ (淚)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ruds): semantic 水 + phonetic 戾 (OC *rɯːds, *rɯːd).
Often thought to be related to 泣 (OC *k-r̥əp, “to weep”) (Mei, 1980b; Baxter and Sagart, 2014).
However, Schuessler (2007, 2015) finds this phonologically problematic. He instead proposes that 淚 (OC *r(i)uts) derives from 流 (OC *r(i)u, “to flow”) + *-t (suffix in nouns for naturally occurring things), literally "the things that are flowing".

Han compound

流淚／流泪


淡

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'aːm, *l'aːmʔ, *l'aːms, *lamʔ): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 炎 (OC *ɦlam)
Word stems from something burning hot being tempered with water (ie spicy food "watered down"). As per the characters water + burning hot (ie to make mild or bland).

Han compound

啲湯好淡

啲汤好淡


業

Various explanations exist:
* Pictogram (象形) – beam from which bells and chimes hang.
* Pictogram (象形) – a person lifting said beam.
* Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 丵 (“chisel”) + 大 (“person; big”) – to launch a great attack.
Up until the Warring States period, the character was written doubled as 𪴨 and sometimes as 𫨱. The latter is a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声) using 去 (the original form of 盍 (OC *ɡaːb)) as a phonetic component. In bamboo slips the vertical stroke of 丵 extended such that the bottom looks like 木.
; work; achievement
; large; terrific

功業

功业


潛

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn²¹⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zlom, *zloms): semantic 水 + phonetic 朁 (OC *sʰlɯːmʔ, *zlam).


澳

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *quːɡs, *quɡ): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 奧 (OC *quːɡs)

Han compound

澳式英語

澳式英语

白澳政策

澳大利亞 澳大利亞#Chinese

澳大利亚 澳大利亚#Chinese

Short for 澳大利亞／澳大利亚 (Àodàlìyà).: Australia (A country in Oceania comprising the islands of Australia, Tasmania and other smaller islands in the Pacific Ocean, as well as a former colony in the British Empire)

澳大利亞

港珠澳大橋

港珠澳大桥


澈

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ded): semantic 水 (“water”) + abbreviated phonetic 徹 (OC *tʰed)

Han compound

Alternative form of 徹／彻 (chè, “thorough”)


派

Azerbaijani: pay, paylamaq

Turkish: pay

Turkmen: paý, paýlamak

Tatar: пай (pay)

→ Russian: пай (paj, “share, interest”)

/pʰaːi̯³³⁻⁵⁵/

/pʰaːi̯³³⁻⁵⁵/

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *m̥ʰreːɡs): semantic 水 (“water; river”) + phonetic 𠂢. Originally written 𠂢.
From Middle Chinese 派 (MC pheaH, “branch (of a river); to delegate, send, detach”). In the sense “pi”, borrowed from English pi, ultimately from Ancient Greek πι (pi). In the sense “pie”, borrowed from English pie.


瀕

ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): a person 頁 with its feet 步 at the edge of a body of water 水.


濠

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡaːw): semantic 氵 + phonetic 豪 (OC *ɡaːw).


濱

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pin): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 賓 (OC *mpin)
According to Schuessler (2007), this is a Southeast Asian etymon. Compare Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *te(m)biŋ (“border, edge, shore, bank”) & Proto-Monic *t(r)mɓaɲ (“rim, edge; lips”).
Unclear, if possible, connection with Tibeto-Burman lexical items: Lepcha ᰓᰧᰶ (bí, “edge, border”) & ᰜᰤᰴ ᰓᰧᰶ (lyaŋ bí, “utmost limit of a place”); Tibetan ཕྱི (phyi) ~ ཕྱིན (phyin, “outside”) (unless the Tibetan items belong to 比 (OC *piʔ, “behind > outside?”)) (ibid.).
瀕 (OC *pin, *bin) is possibly its endopassive derivative. 墳 (OC -) ~ 濆 (OC *pʰɯːn, *bɯn) is possibly its vocalic variant (ibid.).


漁

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋa): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 魚 (OC *ŋa, “fish”).
From 魚 (OC *ŋa, “fish”).

Han compound

渔
𣿡
𤀯
𩼪
𩵎
䰻
䱷
䲣

漁利

渔利

(literary) to seize; to pursue (illegitimately)


滅

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *med): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 烕 (OC *hmed) – to destroy with water (extinguish, flood).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-miːt (“to extinguish; to shut abruptly; to wink; to blink; to die”). Matisoff compares Burmese မှိတ် (hmit, “(of eyes) to close; (of light) to put out, to switch off”) and possibly Tibetan མེད (med, “to not exist”). Cognate Chinese characters include:
* 烕 (OC *hmed, “to destroy; to cause destruction”)
* 蔑 (OC *meːd, *meːd, “to destroy”)
The Old Chinese *e ~ Proto-Tibeto-Burman *i vowel discrepancy may be explained by a reanalysis of the proto-etymon in Chinese, as derived from 隳 (OC *hmai, “to destroy”) + suffix *-t (Schuessler, 2009), although 隳 is reconstructed in the Baxter-Sagart and Zhengzhang systems as having an *l-like initial. The direct Chinese comparandum of Proto-Tibeto-Burman *mit may be 沒 (OC *mɯːd, “to disappear; to die; to perish in water”) (ibid.).

och-l

to obliterate a country and kill its ruler

滅國弒君

灭国弑君

to obliterate; to wipe out; to eradicate; to conquer

to extinguish (a fire); (of light or fire) to go out


泥

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *niːl, *niːls): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 尼 (OC *nil).
Schuessler (2007) suggests it is of Sino-Tibetan origin and compares it to Lai [script needed] (nôoy-I, nǒoy-II, “be muddy”), which STEDT derives from Proto-Kuki-Chin *nooy ~ *naay (“muddy; dirty”). According to Schuessler (2007), 泥 (OC *niːl, “mud”) is also cognate with 濘 (OC *neːŋs) but not with 涅 (OC *niːɡ), and is distinct from 泥 (OC *niːls, “impeded”).
On the other hand, STEDT compares 泥 (OC *niːl, *niːls) to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-njak (“filth(y); excrement”), to which 敜 (OC *nɯːb) and 涅 (OC *niːɡ) are also compared.

cog

(～母) (Chinese linguistics) the Middle Chinese initial of 泥 (MC nej)


濤

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *duː, *duː): semantic 氵 + phonetic 壽 (OC *djuʔ, *djus).


烰

蝦仔滒粉落去烰。

虾仔滒粉落去烰。


烤

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰluːʔ): semantic 火 + phonetic 考 (OC *kʰluːʔ).
Originally 熇.

Han compound

烤焦了

to roast; to bake; to grill; to broil; to toast


漂

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰew, *pʰews): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 票 (OC *pʰew)
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *pyaw (“swim, float, raft”) (STEDT; Benedict, 1972; Schuessler, 2007).
:Inside Chinese, cognate with 浮 (OC *bu, “to float”), 柎 (OC *po, “raft”), 泭 (OC *pʰo, *bo) & 桴 (OC *bu, *pʰuw, “raft, beam”);
:Outside Chinese, cognate with Tibetan འཕྱོ་བ ('phyo ba, “swim, float, soar”), & Jingpho [script needed] (pyau ~ byau, “fly, float; play, shoot, as a fish”).

cog

Alternative form of 飄／飘 (piāo, “to drift (in air); to blow”)


瀨

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *raːds): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 賴 (OC *raːds).
As this word appeared in texts about ancient Eastern Yue (now Min) area and Chen Zan remarked that it was a Wu-Yue word, Schuessler (2007) speculates that it has Austroasiatic origin, comparing it to Wa-Lawa-Bulang *rah "rapids, waterfall" & Old Khmer rat (“to move swiftly, to run”), possibly derived from a root meaning "swift". Proto-Min *l̥aiꟲ is identical to Proto-Tai *hla:iᴮ¹.
Possibly unrelated to 濿 (OC *m·rads) "a ford".


煑

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjaʔ): phonetic 者 (OC *tjaːʔ) + semantic 火 (“fire”) – to cook over a fire.

Han compound

Original form of 煮 (zhǔ, “to boil; to cook”).


灌

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *koːns): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 雚 (OC *koːns).

Han compound

重灌軟體

重灌软体


漆

→ Iban: chat

→ Zhuang: caet

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰiɡ) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 桼 (OC *sʰiɡ, “resin used to make varnish”). From earlier 桼 (OC *sʰiɡ, “varnish; lacquer”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-tsəj (“medicine; juice; paint”). Cognate with Jingpho tsì (“medicine”), Tibetan རྩི (rtsi, “juice; fluid; paint”), Burmese ဆေး (hce:, “medicine; potion; poison; paint”).

cog

lacquer tree; varnish tree (Toxicodendron vernicifluum)


湖

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (湖):
* → Japanese: 湖(こ) (ko)
* → Korean: 호(湖) (ho)
* → Vietnamese: hồ (湖)

→ Ai-Cham: fu²

→ Zhuang: huz

Characters in the same phonetic series (古) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡaː): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 胡 (OC *ɡaː).


烽

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰoŋ): semantic 火 (“fire”) + phonetic 夆 (OC *pʰoŋ, *boŋ, *ɡaːds).


焷

焷 (Kangxi radical 86, 火+8, 12 strokes, cangjie input 火竹田十 (FHWJ), composition ⿰火卑)


烹

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pqʰraːŋ): phonetic 亨 (OC *qʰaŋʔ, *pqʰraːŋ, *qʰraːŋ) + semantic 灬.

Han compound

(historical) to boil somebody alive (a punishment in imperial China)


灸

/t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯²¹⁴/


煀

煀 (Kangxi radical 86, 火+8, 12 strokes, cangjie input 火尸山山 (FSUU), composition ⿰火屈)


渴

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (渴):
* → Vietnamese: khát (渴)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰaːd, *ɡrad): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 曷 (OC *ɡaːd); dry, exhausted (of water).

Han compound

口渴

渴望


渴

(obsolete) Alternative form of 竭 (jié, “to use up; to exhaust; to cause to dry up”)


煌

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡʷaːŋ): semantic 火 (“fire”) + phonetic 皇 (OC *ɡʷaːŋ).
Probably Sino-Tibetan; compare Burmese လွင် (lwang, “vivid”) (Schuessler, 2007).
皇 (OC *ɡʷaːŋ, “royal”) may be the same word (ibid.).
It may be related to 光 (OC *kʷaːŋ, *kʷaːŋs, “light; bright”) (Wang, 1982; Schuessler, 2007). Wang (1982) additionally relates it to 景 (OC *kraŋʔ, “bright; sunlight”), 鏡 (OC *kraŋs, “mirror”), 晃 (OC *ɡʷaːŋʔ, “bright”), 曠 (OC *kʰʷaːŋs, “bright”).


熵

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 火 (“fire”) + phonetic 商 (shāng, “quotient”)
Coined by Chinese physical scientist Hu Gangfu in 1923 to translate the concept of entropy in thermodynamics, where 商 (shāng, “quotient”) represents the quotient of heat and temperature, and 火 (huǒ, “fire”) represents its relation to thermodynamics.

coinage

(physics, information theory, etc.) entropy


焚

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 火 (“fire”) + 林 (“trees”).

Han compound

Whoever kills his parents, have him burnt [to death].

凡殺其親者，焚之。

凡杀其亲者，焚之。


烝

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kljɯŋ, *kljɯŋs): phonetic 丞 (OC *ɡljɯŋ, *ɡljɯŋs, “to raise”) + semantic 灬 (“fire”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-tjaŋ (“upper part; rise; raise”) (STEDT).


毋

Characters in the same phonetic series (母) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
In the oracle bone script, 母 (“mother”) was borrowed to represent this character. It was later specialized to distinguish it from “mother”, replacing the two dots with one stroke.
Cognate with 無 (OC *ma, “to not have”). Already in Zhou time, phonetically confused with and read like 無 (OC *ma).
Cognate with 唔 in Cantonese, Teochew and Hakka.


滑

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡruːd, *kuːd, *ɡuːd): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 骨 (OC *kuːd).


煽

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hljen, *hljens): semantic 火 (“fire”) + phonetic 扇 (OC *hljen, *hljens).


漿

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsaŋ): phonetic 將 (OC *ʔsaŋ, *ʔsaŋs) + semantic 水 (“water”).
Related to Tibetan ཆང (chang, “barley beer”) (Hill, 2019). Possibly related to 醬 (OC *ʔsaŋs, “sauce, paste”).


熥

熥 (Kangxi radical 86, 火+11, 15 strokes, cangjie input 火卜弓月 (FYNB), four-corner 9783₂, composition ⿰火通)


炕

→ English: kang

Compare Burmese ကင် (kang, “to roast, toast”).


民

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (民):
* → Japanese: 民(みん) (min)
* → Korean: 민(民) (min)
* → Vietnamese: dân (民)

Characters in the same phonetic series (民) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – an eye pierced by a dagger. This may be interpreted as 盲 (OC *mraːŋ, “blind”) or “to enslave by blinding > slave”. See also 童.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-mi(j)-n (“people, man, human being”). Cognate with Tibetan མི (mi) and Dzongkha མི (mi).

inh

In your kitchen there is fat meat; in your stables there are fat horses. But your people have the look of hunger, and on the wilds there are those who have died of famine. This is leading on beasts to devour men.

Páo yǒu féi ròu, jiù yǒu féi mǎ, mín yǒu jī sè, yě yǒu èpiǎo, cǐ shuài shòu ér shí rén yě.

庖有肥肉，廄有肥馬，民有飢色，野有餓莩，此率獸而食人也。

庖有肥肉，厩有肥马，民有饥色，野有饿莩，此率兽而食人也。

國民

国民


江

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (江):
* → Japanese: 江(こう) (kō)
* → Korean: 강(江) (gang)
* → Vietnamese: giang (江)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kroːŋ): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 工 (OC *koːŋ).
; "Yangtze River"
Borrowed from a substrate Austroasiatic language as Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kl(j)u(ŋ/k) (“river, valley”); compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *ruŋ ~ ruuŋ ~ ruəŋ (“river”) > Proto-Vietic *k-roːŋ (“river”) (Vietnamese sông), Mon ကြုၚ် (krɜŋ, “small river, creek”).
Derivative: 港 (OC *kroːŋʔ, *ɡloːŋs, “harbour”).

cog

江澤民

江泽民

a surname: Jiang (mainland China), Chiang (Taiwan), Kong (Hong Kong), Kiang (Old fashion)


源

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (源):
* → Japanese: 源(げん) (gen)
* → Korean: 원(源) (won)
* → Vietnamese: nguyên (源)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋʷan) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 原 (OC *ŋʷan, “origin”).

och-l

元 (OC *ŋon, “head; principal; first; great”)

source of a river; headwaters; headspring; fountainhead


港

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kroːŋʔ, *ɡloːŋs): semantic 水 (“river; water”) + phonetic 巷 (OC *ɡroːŋs).
Cognate with 江 (OC *kroːŋ, “river”) (Schuessler, 2007). The southern dialectal word originally meant "small river/stream", which is still preserved in some Min languages. The irregular pronunciation in Mandarin (expected Mandarin reflex is *jiǎng) originated from southern dialects where velars have not palatalized (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

港幣／港币 [Cantonese] ― gong² bai⁶ [Jyutping] ― Hong Kong dollar

省港 [Cantonese] ― saang² gong² [Jyutping] ― Canton-Hong Kong


煥

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


熄

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *slɯɡ): semantic 火 + phonetic 息 (OC *slɯɡ)

Han compound

to extinguish (light or fire); to go out


潘

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (潘):
* → Korean: 반(潘) (ban)
* → Vietnamese: Phan (潘)

→ English: Pan, Poon, Pun, Phua

→ Mandarin: ㄆㄨㄣ (pūn) (Taiwanese slang from Hokkien)

→ Tagalog: Pua (via Hokkien)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰaːn): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 番 (OC *paːl, *paːls, *pʰaːn, *pʰan, *ban).


涎

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ljan, *lans): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 延 (OC *lan, *lans).
Probably Sino-Tibetan; compare Chug har (“phlegm”), Lish hahal (“phlegm”), Rupa Sherdukpen nəkʰɔ̃ː (“phlegm”), Japhug tɯɴɢar (“sputum”) (Bodt, 2021). Schuessler (2007), who reconstructs the Old Chinese minimally as *(s-)lan, compares it to Tibetan ཟླན (zlan, “moisture”).
Alternatively, Schuessler (2007) relates it to Thai น้ำลาย (náam-laai), which is derived from Proto-Tai *laːjᴬ (“saliva”).
Possibly related to 羨 (OC *ljans, “to envy”) (Wang, 1982; also cf. Baxter and Sagart, 2014).

Han compound

㳄
㵪
唌
㳭
湺
𣵿
𠿢


浪

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *raːŋ, *raːŋs): semantic 水 + phonetic 良 (OC *raŋ).
May be a colloquial variant of 瀾／澜 (lán, “wave”). Probably not related to Tibetan དབའ་ཀློང (dba' klong, “wave”) (Schuessler, 2007).


熻

Han char

熻 (Kangxi radical 86, 火+12, 16 strokes, cangjie input 火人口一 (FORM), composition ⿰火翕)


煮

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjaʔ): phonetic 者 (OC *tjaːʔ) + semantic 灬 (“fire”) – to cook over a fire.


濁

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *rdoːɡ): semantic 氵 + phonetic 蜀 (OC *djoɡ).


準

/ʈ͡ʂu̯ən²¹⁴/

/ʈ͡ʂu̯ən²¹⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qʷjinʔ, *qʷjed): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 隼 (OC *sqʰʷinʔ) – “water level”.


灣

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qroːn): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 彎 (OC *qroːn) – a type of water.
Cognate with 彎 (OC *qroːn, “bend; curve”) (Wang, 1982).


爐

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *raː): semantic 火 (“fire”) + phonetic 盧 (OC *b·raː). Originally written 盧, see there for more.


燦

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰaːns): semantic 火 (“fire”) + phonetic 粲 (OC *sʰaːns)
Same word as 粲 (OC *sʰaːns). See there for etymology.


濕

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋ̊ʰl'ɯːb, *hŋjɯb): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 㬎 ().

Han compound

(traditional Chinese medicine) delayed; impassable


漸

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsam, *zamʔ): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 斬 (OC *ʔsreːmʔ).
Compare Khmer ជាំ (cŏəm, “wet; soaked; steeped”) (Schuessler, 2007).


濃

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *noŋ): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 農 (OC *nuːŋ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-naːŋ (“heavy; thick, viscous”).


春

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (春):
* → Japanese: 春(しゅん) (shun)
* → Korean: 춘(春) (chun)
* → Vietnamese: xuân (春)

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯ən⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰuoŋ⁵³³/

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯ən⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰuoŋ⁵³³/

Chinese character
IPA
Meixian dialect
Sixian dialect

Characters in the same phonetic series (屯) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Originally phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tʰjun): semantic 艸 (“grass”) + phonetic 屯 (OC *duːn, *tun, “sprout”) + semantic 日 (“sun”). However, the sprout as a phonetic component can be another reference to plants growing. The sun was added later, thus leading to the intermediate version 萅. Eventually, 艸 and 屯 merged into 𡗗.
The character 春 itself is probably a variant of 屯 (OC *duːn, *tun) as they are equivalent for the meaning “spring” in Old Chinese literature. Unrelated to 泰.
Schuessler (2007) relates it to 芚 (OC *duːn, “(of plants) to begin to grow”); he also compares it Khmer ដុះ (doh, “to grow; to germinate; to sprout”), as well as 穿 (OC *kʰljon, *kʰljons, “to bore through”) (ibid.).
Sagart (2023b) relates it to a vulgar (i.e. ignoble and popular) word which means "egg", which lacked a character, whose modern reflexes are Meixian Hakka 春 (cun¹, “egg, roe”), Sixian Hakka 春 (chhûn), and Cantonese 春 (ceon¹, “egg, roe; testicle”) (IPA: /t͡ʃʰɵn⁵⁵/); and for which he further reconstructs Old Chinese *tʰu[n] ~ *tʰu[r]. He further relates OC *tʰu[n] ~ *tʰu[r] to Bodo (India) dəy, Mizo tui, Proto-Karen *ʔdejᴮ, from tentative Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tʰur, (STEDT, however, reconstructs Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d(w)əy (“egg, testicle”)) and notes a connection between "eggs" and Chinese new year season, as birds generally nest and lay eggs in the warmer months in the north https://www.skedaddlewildlife.com/location/durham-region/blog/when-do-birds-lay-eggs/.

cog

春天

to experience a moderate and pleasant climate throughout the year

四季如春

Zàn bàn yuè jiāng yǐng, xínglè xū jí chūn.

暫伴月將影，行樂須及春。

暂伴月将影，行乐须及春。

Qièshēn shǒu kōngguī, liángrén xíng cóngjūn. Zì qī sān nián guī, jīn yǐ lì jiǔ chūn.

妾身守空閨，良人行從軍。自期三年歸，今已歷九春。

妾身守空闺，良人行从军。自期三年归，今已历九春。

春情

思春期

There is a young lady with thoughts natural to the spring,
And a fine gentleman would lead her astray.

有女懷春，吉士誘之。

有女怀春，吉士诱之。

a type of alcoholic drink which is fermented from spring to winter


熏

In the original version, it is 東 with four dots inside perhaps to indicate grass and herbs inside the tied bag. Later, fire 火 (or 炎) at the bottom was added. The original meaning is "smoked herbs". Two semi-conservative versions are 𡴦 and 𡽽. Today, the original meaning is preserved in 薰. Unrelated to 黑.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kəw-n/t (“smoke”). Compare also 葷 (OC *qʰun, “smelling vegetables”).

*𡴦
𡽽
燻
爋
𤑕
*煇


煲

煲 (Kangxi radical 86, 火+9, 13 strokes, cangjie input 人木火 (ODF), four-corner 2680₉, composition ⿱保火)


河

Wutunhua: xhe

Characters in the same phonetic series (可) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡaːl): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 可 (OC *kʰaːlʔ).
Originally particularly used for the Yellow River, with other rivers known as 水 (OC *qʰʷljilʔ). Later extended generally as a word for rivers in northern China but the influence of 江 (OC *kroːŋ, “Yangtze River; river in southern China”) has meant that modern usage tends to favor it for shorter rivers and creeks except in historical cases.
External etymology uncertain. Various hypotheses have been proposed:
* Sino-Tibetan. Cognate with Tibetan རྒལ (rgal, “to cross, to traverse”) (Coblin, 1986).
* A Mongolic loan. Compare Proto-Mongolic *gowl (“river”) > Mongolian ᠭᠣᠣᠯ (ɣool, “river”) (Norman and Mei, 1976). This was argued against in Zhang (1998).
* Derived from 湖 (OC *ɡaː, “lake”) (Matisoff, 1995).
* Takashima (2012), citing palaeographical and archaeological evidence, posits that the Yellow River's name stemmed from the shape, which resembles an adze handle 柯 (OC *kaːl), of a stretch spanning 500 to 600 kilometers "from Héjīn, Tóngguān to east of Zhèngzhōu".

cog

(obsolete, Chinese mythology) Hebo; the god of the Yellow River

Yellow River, Huang He
Hebo; the god of the Yellow River

(obsolete, Chinese mythology) Yellow River's Map; the plan of the Yellow River (mystic diagram said to have been supernaturally revealed)

河南

Moles drink from the He [river]; yet cannot overfill their bellies

偃鼠飲河，不過滿腹。

偃鼠饮河，不过满腹。

What are the six rivers called? They are named He River, Red River, Liao River, Black River, Jiang River, and Huai River.

Hé wèi liùshuǐ? Yuē héshuǐ, chìshuǐ, liáoshuǐ, hēishuǐ, jiāngshuǐ, huáishuǐ.

何謂六水？曰河水、赤水、遼水、黑水、江水、淮水。

何谓六水？曰河水、赤水、辽水、黑水、江水、淮水。

乾炒牛河

干炒牛河

(chiefly Cantonese) Short for 河粉 (héfěn).


活

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (活):
* → Japanese: 活(かつ) (katsu)

Aslian languages
Blang language
Lawa language
Wa language

The original form is 𣴠: Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *koːd, *ɡoːd): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 𠯑 (OC *ɡroːd). Then, the right component was transformed into the variant 舌.
Schuessler (2007) proposes possible Austroasiatic etymology; compare Wa-Lawa-Bulang *gɑs "alive (of plants)" & Aslian *gɔs "to live"

Han compound

(Mainland China Hokkien, in rhetorical questions) awful; unable to handle (used after either 會／会 or 𣍐／𫧃 to mean the same thing)


燉

Second round of simplified Chinese characters

Table of General Standard Chinese Characters

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tuːns, *tʰuːn, *duːn): semantic 火 + phonetic 敦 (OC *tuːl, *doːn, *tuːn, *tuːns).

Han compound

to heat up (soup, wine, etc.) by steeping the container in hot water


有

desc

→ English: got (Singapore English) (semantic loan)

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (有):
* → Japanese: 有(う) (u); 有(ゆう) (yū)
* → Vietnamese: hữu (有)

Characters in the same phonetic series (又) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷɯʔ): phonetic 又 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “hand”) + semantic ⺼ (“meat”) – a hand holding meat, hence “in possession of”. The hand shape has been significantly abstracted; compare 右 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ, *ɢʷɯs).
Alternatively, the graph was perhaps originally intended for the word 醢 (OC *qʰɯːʔ, “minced pickled meat”), which also has the 又 (OC *ɢʷɯs) element as phonetic.
Shuowen Jiezi and other ancient sources have erroneously analyzed the character as a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷɯʔ): phonetic 又 (OC *ɢʷɯs) + semantic 月 (“moon”). Shuowen Jiezi defines 有 as "不宜有也" ("[to have something that] not should be had"), citing the Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋傳): "日月有食之" ("There are solar and lunar eclipses"). As eclipses were not auspicious to the Chinese, they were "something that should not be happening". The 月 component alludes to the inauspicious lunar eclipse.
Possibly Sino-Tibetan. Compare Tibetan ཡོད (yod, “to be; to have”). Related to:
* 侑 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “to offer, to sacrifice”) [causative, i.e. “to cause to have”]
* 又 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “again”) [adverbial]
* 或 (OC *ɡʷɯːɡ, “some; or”) [indefinite]

och-l

右 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ, *ɢʷɯs)

害人之心不可有，防人之心不可無／害人之心不可有，防人之心不可无

hàirén zhī xīn bùkě yǒu, fángrén zhī xīn bùkě wú

明知山有虎，偏向虎山行

míngzhī shān yǒu hǔ, piān xiàng hǔ shān xíng

to understand (when listening); to be able to hear

聽有

听有

揣有

(Hokkien, Teochew) Particle used after a verb to indicate accomplishment or accomplishability of a goal.

得到

particle used after a verb to indicate accomplishment


洽

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡruːb): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 合 (OC *kuːb, *ɡuːb).
Causative of 合 (OC *kuːb, *ɡuːb, “to be together”) (Schuessler, 2007).
Alternatively, it may be related to Tibetan འགྲུབ ('grub, “to be accomplished”) (Schuessler, 2007).

cog

to be in accord; to be harmonious; to agree


煠

alt. forms: 炸

油煠鬼


灶

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 火 (“fire”) + 土 (“soil”).
See 竈 (OC *ʔsluːɡs).

Han compound

祭灶


炸

把橋炸了

把桥炸了


炸

炸飯糰

炸饭团


煩

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 火 (“fire”) + 頁 (“head”)

煩躁

烦躁

心裡很煩／心里很烦

你在煩什麼啊？

你在烦什么啊？

這些話我都聽煩了。

这些话我都听烦了。


熬

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-ŋaw (“to fry; to roast”); cognate with Tibetan རྔོ (rngo, “to fry”), Chepang ङाव्सा (ŋaw, “to fry; to parch; to roast”), Tangut 𗲔 (*ŋur¹, “pancake”) (STEDT; Benedict, 1972; Coblin, 1986; Schuessler, 2007; Jacques, 2014).

cog

to cook something on slow fire; to extract something using heat


殺

In the oracle bone script, it was an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) of a boar that had been impaled in the head.
In the seal script, the original compound was corrupted into 𣏂 (sometimes written as 杀). It was also in the seal script that the pictogram (象形): 人 (“person”) + 又 (“right hand”), which was later corrupted into 殳 (“spear”) or 攴, was added under the head of the boar to specify the killing was done by a person.
The modern-day character inherits this and can be thought of as a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sreːds, *sreːd): phonetic 𣏂 () + semantic 殳 (“spear”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g/b-sat (“to kill”); compare Tibetan བསད (bsad), perfect of Tibetan གསོད (gsod, “to kill”), Proto-Lolo-Burmese *C-sat (“to kill”), Japhug sat (“to kill”) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007; Zhang, Jacques and Lai, 2019).

Han compound

杀
𣏂
煞
閷
𢁛
𢽅
𢿹
𢽆
𢼡
𢿔
𢽘
𣪩
𧤿
𧜁

我殺咗隻烏蠅。

我杀咗只乌蝇。

(chess) to mate; short for 將殺／将杀 (jiāngshā) ("to checkmate")

(Taiwanese Hokkien) willing to part with something


瀉

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sjaːʔ, *sjaːɡs): semantic 水 + phonetic 寫 (OC *sjaːʔ).


牡

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 牛 (“cattle”) + 丄. Various explanations exist, some propose 丄 (here unrelated to 上) depicts a penis to represent “male”. Later 丄 came to be written 土. See also the etymology of this character.
Austroasiatic (Schuessler, 2007). Compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *ɟm(oo)l (“male”) (whence Khmer ឈ្មោល (chmool, “to be male”)), Old Mon jmūr ~ jmur (“male (elephant)”), Proto-Waic *(k)mɔj (“(wild) ox; buffalo”), Proto-Vietic *mɔːlʔ (“person; human being”) (whence Vietnamese mọi (“savage; barbarian”), Muong mõl (“human being”)).
An oracle bone graph for this word shows a vertical stick on a horizontal ground, possibly because it had been intended for an obsolete homophone cognate with Proto-Vietic *c-mɔːlʔ (“digging stick”), which alongside "male" may derive from a stem represented in 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”) (ibid.; Ferlus, 1987). Schuessler (2007) further proposes a relationship with 畝 (OC *mɯʔ, “cropland; mu (a Chinese measuring unit for area)”) (ibid.); see there for more.


混

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡuːnʔ): semantic 氵 + phonetic 昆 (OC *kuːn).

Han compound

魚目混珠

鱼目混珠

這人是怎麼混進來的？

这人是怎么混进来的？

to muck around; to drift through the days

混日子


災

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 巛 (“flowing water”) + 火 (“fire”) – two main types of disaster, fire (conflagration) and flowing water (flooding).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tsa-t ~ dza-t (“hot, fever, hurt, ill, temper”); cognate with Burmese ဆာ (hca, “hungry, thirsty”), Tibetan ཚ (tsha, “hot, intense”), and 菑 (OC *ʔsrɯ, *ʔsɯː, *ʔsɯː, “field cleared by slash and burn”) (STEDT), which is its r-causative (Schuessler, 2007).

och-l

灾
烖
菑
灾
𤆎
𡿧
甾
𤉣
𤈮
𥘔
𢎇
𨓌
𭴠

(literary, or in compounds) calamity; disaster; catastrophe

(literary, or in compounds) personal misfortune

(literary, or in compounds) stricken; disaster-affected; disaster-afflicted


燙

→ Zhuang: dangq (“to iron”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l̥ʰaːŋs): phonetic 湯 (OC *l̥ʰaːŋ, *l̥ʰaːŋs, *hljaŋ) + semantic 火.
From 湯 (OC *l̥ʰaːŋ, “hot water”).

Han compound

燙恤衫

烫恤衫


煎

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (煎):
* → Japanese: 煎(せん) (sen)
* → Korean: 전(煎) (jeon)

→ Khmer: ជៀន (ciən)

→ Thai: เจี๋ยน (jǐian)

→ Vietnamese: chiên

→ Zhuang: cien

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔslen, *ʔslens): phonetic 前 (OC *zleːn) + semantic 火 (“fire”).

Han compound

煎牛排


牲

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sreŋ): semantic 牛 (“cow”) + phonetic 生 (OC *sʰleːŋ, *sreŋs).
From 生 (OC *sʰleːŋ, *sreŋs, “alive”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

(historical) sacrificial animal (especially a cow, sheep, or pig)


灘

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *n̥ʰaːn, *naːns, *hnaːnʔ, *hnaːns): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 難 (OC *n̥ʰaːn, *naːns).

Han compound

Classifier for liquid or paste spread over a surface: pool; puddle


爽

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 大 + 㸚 – bright.
Schuessler (2007) compares this to Drung sraŋ (“morning”), from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *b/s-raŋ (“morning, awake, alert”) as well as Khmer ស្រាង (sraang, “to be dim / faint (of early morning light); to glimmer”). Possibly of part of an Austroasiatic word family; see 亮 (OC *raŋs) for more.

cog

(Cantonese) to feel good; to enjoy one's time


瀾

A dialectal variant of 涎 (OC *ljan, “saliva”) in the South (Schuessler, 2007; Xu and Iwata, 2014).

澜
灡
澜
澜
涎
灠
漤
潾
㘓

(chiefly Hakka, Min, Southern Wu) saliva


渠

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡa): semantic 水 (“water”) + abbreviated phonetic 榘 (OC *kʷaʔ).
; “ditch; canal; drain”


濟

Yue-Hashimoto (1976) relates it to Proto-Tai *ʰlaːjᴬ (“many; much”), whence Zhuang lai. This Tai word is probably related to 多 (OC *ʔl'aːl) (Schuessler, 2007).

济
済
㴉
𣳵
𣸓
𣺴
𤀮
济
多
㩼
穧
侈
儕
価
眾
嚌
𧪇
䜞
諸


炊

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯eɪ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰe̞i̯³³/

/t͡ɕʰy̯e̞i̯³³/

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯eɪ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰe̞i̯³³/

/t͡ɕʰy̯e̞i̯³³/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰjol): semantic 火 (“fire”) + abbreviated phonetic 吹 (OC *kʰjol, *kʰjols).
From 吹 (OC *kʰjol, “to blow”), as in blowing to get a fire going (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

炊具


爿

Pictogram (象形) – a bed. The original form of 牀 (OC *zraŋ). In the character 臧, it appears as a contracted form.

(dialectal) Classifier for shops, factories, etc.


爛

Characters in the same phonetic series (柬) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡ·raːns): semantic 火 (“fire”) + phonetic 闌 (OC *ɡ·raːn).

Han compound

抵到爛／抵到烂 [Cantonese] ― dai² dou³ laan⁶ [Jyutping] ― to be extremely cost-effective; to be a great bargain


熟

→ Thai: สุก (sùk)

→ Zhuang: sug

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djɯwɢ): phonetic 孰 (OC *djɯwɢ, “cooked; ripe”) + semantic 灬 (“fire”) – cooked with fire.
Sino-Tibetan. Cognate with Proto-Kiranti (*tʰok ~ tʰuk, "ripen; cooked") (Schuessler, 2007)

Han compound

把曲子練熟／把曲子练熟

深思熟慮／深思熟虑

貓咪睡得很熟。

猫咪睡得很熟。

熟黎

(historical ethnography) civilized; settled


犧

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hŋral): semantic 牛 (“ox”) + phonetic 羲 (OC *hŋral).
Cognate with 儀 (OC *ŋral, “ceremony; appearance”). See there for more.


滿

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *moːnʔ): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 㒼 ().
; “Manchu”
; “Classifier for occurrences of events”

Han compound

(Hakka) Classifier for occurrences of events.


爬

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *braː): semantic 爪 + phonetic 巴 (OC *praː).
Cognate with 匍 (OC *baː).

Han compound

爬山

猴子爬上了樹。

猴子爬上了树。

爬上張凳

爬上张凳

給老子爬！

给老子爬！

(Sichuanese or Internet slang, dismissal, derogatory or self-deprecatory) to leave; to get out

dismissal; derogatory or self-deprecatory; dismissal; derogatory or self-deprecatory


濫

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡ·raːms, *ɡraːmʔ): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 監 (OC *kraːm, *kraːms).


燭

→ Bouyei: xugt (“candle”)

Compare Tibetan དུགས་པ (dugs pa, “to make warm, to warm, to light”) and Burmese တောက် (tauk, “to shine, to illuminate, to make fire”) (Hill, 2019).


新

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (新):
* → Japanese: 新(しん) (shin)
* → Korean: 신(新) (sin)
* → Vietnamese: tân (新)

→ Thai: ซิง (sing)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *siŋ): phonetic 亲 (OC *siŋ, “hazelnut tree”) + semantic 斤 (“axe”) – to cut down a tree with an axe (hence starting something new). In this character, 亲 is the stylized form of 𣓀, a chisel over a tree to indicate the hazelnut tree or the hazelnut branch, that could be used as a whip.
Also ideogrammic compound (會意／会意). Original form of 薪 (OC *siŋ, “firewood”).
Sino-Tibetan; cognate with Burmese သစ် (sac, “new”). Compare the cognacy between 薪 (OC *siŋ, “firewood”) and Burmese သစ် (sac, “wood; timber”).
This word may belong to the Sino-Tibetan stem Proto-Sino-Tibetan *siŋ (“alive, fresh, green”) and may hence be related to 青 (OC *sʰleːŋ, “green”) as well as 薪 (OC *siŋ, “firewood”) (Schuessler, 2007).

inh

Australia and New Zealand Banking Corporation (ANZ Bank)

澳新銀行

澳新银行


牌

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (牌):
* → Japanese: 牌(はい) (hai)
* → Korean: 패(牌) (pae)
* → Vietnamese: bài (牌)

desc

→ Burmese: ဖဲ (hpai:, “playing cards; game of cards”)

→ Khmer: បៀ (biə, “playing cards”)

→ Lao: ໄພ້ (phai, “playing cards”)

→ Lü: ᦘᦻᧉ (phaay², “playing cards”)

→ Shan: ၽၢႆႉ (phâ̰ai, “domino, playing cards”)

→ Thai: ไพ่ (pâi, “playing cards”)

→ White Hmong: phaib (“playing cards”)

→ Zhuang: bej (“playing cards”)

/pʰaːi̯²¹⁻³⁵/

/pʰaːi̯²¹⁻³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *breː, *breː): semantic 片 + phonetic 卑 (OC *pe).

Han compound

打牌

洗牌

我就剩一張牌了！

我就剩一张牌了！

(card games, mahjong, dominoes) playing cards; cards; dominoes; mahjong; etc. (Classifier: 張／张 m c; 飛／飞 c)


牑

牑 (Kangxi radical 91, 片+9, 13 strokes, cangjie input 中中竹尸月 (LLHSB) or 中中戈尸月 (LLISB) or 中弓竹尸月 (LNHSB) or 中弓戈尸月 (LNISB) or 難中中竹尸 (XLLHS) or 難中中戈尸 (XLLIS) or 難中弓竹尸 (XLNHS) or 難中弓戈尸 (XLNIS), four-corner 2302₇, composition ⿰片扁)


沙

→ Proto-Tai: *zwɯəjᴬ

Proto-Southwestern Tai: *zaːjᴬ

Thai: ทราย (saai)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 水 (“water”) + 少 (“to lack; to be short of”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(s/z)a-j (“earth, sand”). Compare Tibetan ས (sa, “sand”) and Burmese သဲ (sai:, “sand”).

inh

泥沙

沙漠


牧

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 牛 (“cow”) + 攴 (“a whip”) – to herd.
Cognate with Tibetan འབྲོག་པ། ('brog pa, “herdsman; nomad; shepherd”) (Schuessler, 2007).

cog

(historical) overlord; ruler (of one of the nine ancient city states in China)


炮

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (砲／炮):
* → Japanese: 砲(ほう) (hō)
* → Korean: 포(砲) (po)
* → Vietnamese: pháo (砲)

→ Tuvan: боо (boo)

Mongolic:

→ Buryat: буу (buu)

→ Daur: pau

→ Dongxiang: pao

→ Kalmyk: бу (bu)

→ Mongolian: ᠪᠤᠤ (buu) / буу (buu)

Tungusic:

→ Manchu: ᡦᠣᠣ (poo)

→ Nanai: пао (pao)

→ Orok: пау (pau)

→ Ulch: пау

→ Nivkh: пʼау (pʼau)

Characters in the same phonetic series (勹) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰruːs, *bruː): semantic 火 + phonetic 包 (OC *pruː).


版

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *praːnʔ): semantic 片 + phonetic 反 (OC *panʔ, *pʰan).
Related to 板 (OC *praːnʔ, “plank, board”); see there for more.

Han compound

Shun rose from among the channelled fields. Fu Yue was called to office from the midst of his building frames.

Shùn fā yú quǎnmǔ zhī zhōng, Fù Yuè jǔ yú bǎnzhù zhī jiān.

舜發於畎畝之中，傅說舉於版築之間。

舜发于畎亩之中，傅说举于版筑之间。

[The three armies] directed the water from River Fen to destroy the fortifications, which were submerged up to the third slab from the top.

Yǐn Fén shuǐ guàn qí chéng, chéng bù jìn zhě sān bǎn.

引汾水灌其城，城不浸者三版。

plank; formwork (wooden slabs used for molding in rammed earth construction)


營

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷeŋ): abbreviated phonetic 熒 (OC *ɡʷeːŋ) + abbreviated semantic 宮 (“palace”), depicting a person working all night with a light on his house.


燃

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *njen): semantic 火 (“fire”) + phonetic 然 (OC *njen) – burn with fire. Originally 然 (OC *njen), but because it was phonetically borrowed for abstract senses, 火 (huǒ) was added for differentiation.
Probably Sino-Tibetan; compare Jingpho nan (“to light”), shanan (“torch”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

to spark off (hopes); to start (debate); to raise (hopes)


燃

(Hokkien, Teochew, Hainanese) to burn (wood, coal, etc.)


珂

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


燈

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tɯːŋ): semantic 火 (“candlelight”) + phonetic 登 (OC *tɯːŋ).
; to jinx

Han compound

(Hong Kong Cantonese) traffic lights (Classifier: 支 c)


犀

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sliːl): phonetic 尾 (OC *mɯlʔ) + semantic 牛 (“ox”).
Possibly from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b-sej (“rhinoceros”).

Han compound

Where there are no trees, rhinoceroses and elephants come together and bring up their young.

c. 1300, 周達觀 / 周达观 (Zhou Daguan), 《真臘風土記 / 真腊风土记》 (The Customs of Cambodia), adapted from translation by Peter Harris

Wú mù chù nǎi xī, xiàng túnjù yǎngyù zhī dì.

無木處乃犀、象屯聚養育之地。

无木处乃犀、象屯聚养育之地。


牆

→ Lü: ᦌᧂᧉ (sang²)

→ Zhuang: ciengz

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑŋ³⁵/

/t͡sʰi̯oŋ¹¹/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑŋ³⁵/

/t͡sʰi̯oŋ¹¹/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zaŋ): phonetic 爿 (OC *braːn, *zaŋ) + semantic 嗇 (“wheat in a granary”).

Han compound

墙
墻
廧
𤖧
𤖣
𤖠
𢉈

翻牆

翻墙

The Great Firewall becomes higher during the Two Sessions. My proxy is not working.

Liǎnghuì qījiān qiáng gāo le, wǒ de jiédiǎn shīxiào le.

兩會期間牆高了，我的節點失效了。

两会期间墙高了，我的节点失效了。

(Mainland China, Internet slang) Great Firewall


炭

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (炭):
* → Japanese: 炭(たん) (tan)
* → Korean: 탄(炭) (tan)
* → Vietnamese: thán (炭)

→ Khmer: ធ្យូង (thyuung)

→ Proto-Hmong-Mien: *thanᴴ (“charcoal”)

White Hmong: thee

→ Lao: ຖ່ານ (thān)

→ Thai: ถ่าน (tàan)

→ Vietnamese: than

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tŋ̊ʰaːns): semantic 火 (“fire”) + abbreviated phonetic 岸 (OC *ŋɡaːns).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tal (“charcoal; dust; ashes”). Cognate with Tibetan ཐལ་བ (thal ba, “ashes; dust; dirt”).
Derivative: 碳 (tàn, “carbon”).
; (ACG slang) -tan

cog

炭火

肥炭

笨炭


玳

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'ɯːɡs): semantic 𤣩 (“jade”) + phonetic 代 (OC *l'ɯːɡs).

Han compound

Only used in 玳瑁 (dàimào); also used as its short form.


熨

熨斗

熨衣服

熨衫 [Hokkien] ― ut sam [Pe̍h-ōe-jī] ― to iron clothes


潮

/t͡sʰiːu̯²¹/

/t͡sʰiːu̯²¹/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *r'ew): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 朝 (OC *ʔr'ew, *r'ew).
"Rising tide in the daytime" > "tide" (in general).
Derived from 朝 (OC *ʔr'ew, *r'ew, “morning”). Compare 汐 (OC *ljaːɡ, “evening tide; ebb”) < 夕 (OC *ljaːɡ, “evening”).


煞

煞念頭／煞念头 [Shanghainese] ― ⁷saq ⁶gni-deu [Wugniu] ― to satisfy a craving

(Northern Wu) to satisfy; to quench (esp. a desire)

(Hokkien) to stop and give up; to abandon; to leave it be; to leave it at that


焦

/t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

(physics) Short for 焦耳 (jiāo'ěr, “joule (energy unit)”).


珓

/t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵¹/

/t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵¹/

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

Han compound

(divination) moon blocks (divination device)


獎

/t͡ɕi̯ɑŋ²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕi̯ɑŋ²¹⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsaŋʔ): phonetic 將 (OC *ʔsaŋ, *ʔsaŋs) + semantic 犬 (“dog”). The significance of 犬 is unclear; cf. the same radical in 獻. Perhaps it's a reference to guiding a dog using one's voice.


狹

→ Lao: ແຄບ (khǣp)

→ Shan: ၵႅပ်ႈ (kēp)

desc

→ Saek: เกฺ้บ

→ Saek: เกฺ้บ.

→ Thai: แคบ (kɛ̂ɛp)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡreːb): semantic 犭 (“dog”) + phonetic 夾 (OC *kreːb) – narrow-minded, like a dog.
The endopassive of 夾 (OC *kreːb, “to press between”) (Schuessler, 2007). Compare Proto-Sino-Tibetan *gjap (“narrow; crowded”), from which Burmese ကျပ် (kyap, “tight”) is derived (STEDT).

inh

This alleyway is too narrow, not even two people can go through it side by side.

⁸diq-diau ⁶lon-daon ⁷theq ⁸ghaq ⁰leq ⁶lian-gheq-gnin ⁶bin-ba ⁶gha ⁵tseu-veq-ku-chi

迭條弄堂忒狹了，兩個人並排也走勿過去。

迭条弄堂忒狭了，两个人并排也走勿过去。

narrow (of rooms, pants, streets, etc.); tight

narrow-minded; narrow (of one's thinking, knowledge, mind, etc.)


琯

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *koːnʔ, *kuːns): semantic 玉 (“jade”) + phonetic 官 (OC *koːn).

Han compound

an ancient wind instrument in the form of a tube made of jade and consisting of six holes


玫

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mɯːl): semantic 𤣩 (“jade”) + phonetic 文 (OC *mɯn)


瑄

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

Han compound

有司奉瑄玉嘉牲薦饗。

有司奉瑄玉嘉牲荐飨。


燒

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hŋjew, *hŋjaws): semantic 火 (“fire”) + phonetic 堯 (OC *ŋeːw).
From 蕘 (OC *ŋjew, “firewood; fuel”) with causative devoicing (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified); † - describes the weather; ‡ - describes objects

燃燒

燃烧

(dialectal Mandarin, Gan, Hakka, Jin) boiling hot; scalding hot


玷

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *teːmʔ, *teːms): semantic 𤣩 + phonetic 占 (OC *ʔljem, *tjems).


獸

Characters in the same phonetic series (嘼) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 單 (“hunting weapon”) + 犬 (“dog”) – "hunting". 口 was added later (see 嘼).
Exopassive of 狩 (OC *qʰljus, “to hunt”), literally "what is hunted" (Schuessler, 2007). Speculatively, 獸 (OC *qʰljus) can be compared with Tibetan འཆོར་བ ('chor ba, “to hunt”) (ibid.).

Han compound

獸迷／兽迷


狀

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zraŋs): phonetic 爿 (OC *braːn, *zaŋ) + semantic 犬.
Compare perhaps Burmese ဆင်း (hcang:, “form, appearance”) (Luce, 1981).

cog

獎狀

奖状


牟

Ideogram (指事): An ox (牛) with a symbol (now 厶) to represent its lowing.
; “moo”
; “to seek; to obtain”
; “to love”
; “look; appearance”
; “spear”


波

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *paːl): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 皮 (OC *bral).
; “wave; undulation”
: STEDT and Starostin derive it from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r/m-ba (“wave; ripple”). Cognate with Tibetan རྦ (rba), དབའ (dba', “wave”).
: Schuessler (2007) notes a mismatch of the vowels in the above comparanda, and instead posits a root *paj (“slanted; not level”), also subsuming 陂 (OC *pral, “slope; slanting”).
: Wang (1982) relates it to 播 (OC *paːls, “to winnow”), 簸 (OC *paːlʔ, *paːls, “to winnow”).

inh

聲波

声波

微波

Used in 波羅／波罗 (bōluó), alternative form of 菠蘿／菠萝 (bōluó)


機

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (機):
* → Japanese: 機(き) (ki)
* → Korean: 기(機) (gi)

→ Vietnamese: cơ

→ Thai: กี่ (gìi)

→ Northern Thai: ᨠᩦ᩵

→ Khün: ᨠᩦ᩵

→ Lao: ກີ່ (kī)

desc

→ Lü: ᦂᦲᧈ (k̇ii¹)

→ Lü: ᦂᦲᧈ (k̇ii¹)

→ Shan: ၵီႇ (kìi)

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

Han compound

機票／机票

機場／机场

無人機／无人机

登機／登机

坐穩機！

坐稳机！

(mostly in compounds) Short for 飛機／飞机 (fēijī, “aircraft”). (Classifier: 架 c)

(mostly in compounds) Short for 手機／手机 (shǒujī, “cellphone”).

(chiefly Cantonese) Short for 遊戲機／游戏机 (yóuxìjī, “video game”).


犢

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'oːɡ): semantic 牛 (“ox”) + phonetic 𧶠 (OC *luɡ).
Possibly from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *luk (“sheep”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT). Cognate with 羭 (OC *lo, “sheep”), Tibetan ལུག (lug, “sheep”).
Other etymologies have been proposed:
* Boodberg (1937) relates it to Tibetan ཕྲུག (phrug, “calf”), which Schuessler (2007) deems unlikely.
* Norman (1988) suggests that it may be a loan from Mongolic or Tungusic; compare Mongolian ᠲᠤᠭᠤᠯ (tuɣul, “calf”), Manchu ᡨᡠᡴᡧᠠᠨ (tukšan, “calf”). This is an unlikely etymology due to recent developments in the reconstruction of Old Chinese, where *l- (rather than older reconstructions with *d-) would be a poor match for Mongolic/Tungusic t-, as well as new archaeological evidence suggesting that the word is likely older than previously assumed (Miyake, 2017; Cao, 2021).
* It could also be related to 畜 (OC *l̥ʰuɡs, *l̥ʰuɡ, *hluɡ, “to nourish; domestic animal”) (Schuessler, 2007).


爸

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *praːs, *baʔ): semantic 父 (“father”) + phonetic 巴 (OC *praː).
Colloquial form of 父 (OC *baʔ, “father”), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *p/ba (“male; father”). The pronunciation of 爸, unlike 父, still retains the bilabial onset.

inh

我爸是李剛！

我爸是李刚！


然

Characters in the same phonetic series (肰) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *njen): phonetic 肰 (OC *njen, “dog meat”) + semantic 火 (“fire”) – to burn. Also ideogrammic compound (會意／会意). The derivative 燃 (OC *njen) stands for the original word in Modern Chinese.
Note that the upper left component is analyzed as 肉 (meat), and in the component 肰 it is drawn as a tilted 月 (“moon”), appearing more like 夕 (“evening”) with an extra stroke (𱼀); compare 祭, 將.
A fusion of 如 (OC *nja, *njas) with an element *-n which has a demonstrative meaning (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

Since all men have these four principles in themselves, let them know to give them all their development and completion, and the issue will be like that of fire which has begun to burn, or that of a spring which has begun to find vent.

Fán yǒu sìduān yú wǒ zhě, zhī jiē kuò ér chōng zhī yǐ, ruò huǒ zhī shǐ rán, quán zhī shǐ dá.

凡有四端於我者，知皆擴而充之矣，若火之始然，泉之始達。

凡有四端于我者，知皆扩而充之矣，若火之始然，泉之始达。


柚

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *lɯwɢs, *l'ɯwɢ): semantic 木 (“tree; wood”) + phonetic 由 (OC *lɯw).


琰

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *lamʔ): semantic 𤣩 + phonetic 炎 (OC *ɦlam).


琉

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


狂

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (狂):
* → Vietnamese: cuồng (狂)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡʷaŋ, *ɡʷaŋs): semantic 犭 (“dog”) + phonetic 㞷 (). The latter is the ancient form of 往 (OC *ɢʷaŋ, “to go”).

Han compound

(of dogs) to go crazy; to act aggressively

as one pleases; as one likes; whatever one wants; wildly


獅

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (獅):
* → Japanese: 獅(し) (shi)
* → Korean: 사(獅) (sa)
* → Vietnamese: sư (獅)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sri): semantic 犭 (“dog; beast”) + phonetic 師 (OC *sri).
Originally written as 師. Earliest written attestations in the Eastern Han era include the Book of Han [before 111], the surviving portion of the Dongguan Hanji [c. 150], and Lokakṣema's translation of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā [179]. The term is possibly of Iranian origin. In the Book of Han, the lion was described as indigenous to the historical 烏弋山離 (OC *qaː lɯɡ sreːn rel, “Alexandria”), possibly Alexandria Prophthasia (Yu, 1998), which was part of the Parthian Empire at the time. The Dongguan mentions a lion as a gift from the Shule Kingdom in the year 133, where a Saka language was spoken then. Earlier definite dates associated with the lion mentioned in the Book of the Later Han include the year 87, when a gift lion from the Yuezhi was recorded.
Compare Proto-Iranian *cárguš (“lion”). Possibly related to 狻猊 (OC *sloːn ŋeː).
Meanwhile, Adams (2013) postulates possible Tocharian connections; cf. Tocharian B ṣecake and etymologies.

och-l

Alexandria Prophthasia
Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā
Book of Han
Book of the Later Han
Eastern Han
Lokaksema (Buddhist monk)
Parthian Empire
Saka language
Shule Kingdom
zh:東觀漢記


山

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (山):
* → Japanese: 山(さん) (san)
* → Korean: 산(山) (san)
* → Vietnamese: sơn (山)

Characters in the same phonetic series (山) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – three mountain peaks. In the Oracle Bone Script, they were represented by triangles rather than vertical strokes. Compare 丘 (qiū), particularly earlier forms.
Unrelated to 出 and the top component of 岁 and 豐. Also unrelated to 屮.
Unclear – cognates not known outside Sino-Bai. Cognate with Central Bai svrt (“mountain”) < Proto-Bai *sro⁴.
Baxter and Sagart (2014) propose that it is derived from a root *ŋ(ˤ)rar (“slope, nearly vertical side”) that also derives 巘 (OC *ŋ(r)ar(ʔ), “hill”), 涯 (OC *ŋˤrar, “river bank”), 顏 (OC *C.ŋˤrar, “forehead”).
Starostin compares it with Kayan sʰôn (“mountain”).


璃

Sino-Xenic (璃):
* → Vietnamese: li (璃)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *reːl, *rel): semantic 王 (“jade”) + phonetic 离 (OC *rel, *r̥ʰel).


方

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (方):
* → Japanese: 方(ほう) (hō)
* → Korean: 방(方) (bang)
* → Vietnamese: phương (方)

→ English: Fang, Fong, Png

→ Vietnamese: vuông

Characters in the same phonetic series (方) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 一 + 刀 (“sword”) – blade; tip of a blade. Original form of 芒 (OC *maːŋ, *maŋ, “awn (of cereal); tip (of blade)”); later borrowed to mean “side”. Other theories regarding the origin of this character also exist.
It is unrelated to 㫃 (“fluttering flag”), from which characters like 旗 (OC *ɡɯ, “flag”) and 旅 (OC *ɡ·raʔ, “troops”) are derived.
; "side; square; region"
; "parallel boats"
; "just now"; "now"
; "method; law"

och-l

The length of the Jiang
Cannot be navigated with a raft.

江之永矣，不可方思。

(obsolete) parallel boats; raft made of bamboo

(mathematics) Short for 平方米 (píngfāngmǐ, “Classifier for square metre.”).

平方米

(mathematics) Short for 立方米 (lìfāngmǐ, “Classifier for cubic metre.”).

立方米

方正

品行端方

(lexicography) Short for 方言 (fāngyán, “dialect”).


星

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (星):
* → Japanese: 星(せい) (sei)
* → Korean: 성(星) (seong)
* → Vietnamese: tinh (星)

Simplified from 曐 (晶 → 日), which is a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sleːŋ): semantic 晶 (“twinkling stars”) + phonetic 生 (OC *sʰleːŋ, *sreŋs).
Baxter and Sagart (2014) reconstructs the Old Chinese as *s-tsʰˤeŋ, which can be analysed as a verbal root *tsʰˤeŋ (“bright”) with a prefix *s-. This reconstruction accounts for the Min initial *tsh- and the use of the character to write the word 晴 (OC *N-tsʰeŋ).
Possibly related to 清 (OC *sʰleŋ, “clear”) (Schuessler, 2007; Baxter and Sagart, 2014), in turn from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(t)s(j)aŋ (“clear; pure; clean”).
Proto-Kiranti *saŋ (“star”) either develops from a parallel Sino-Tibetan root (Schuessler, 2007) or derives from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-kar (“star”) (STEDT).

inh

曐
𠻖
𤯢
皨
𤾪
𤽛
𰣀
𭥕
〇

星馬泰

星马泰

星式英語／星式英语 ― Xīngshì Yīngyǔ ― Singlish

(dated or informal) Short for 星加坡 (Xīngjiāpō, “Singapore”).


本

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (本):
* → Japanese: 本(ほん) (hon)
* → Okinawan: 本(ふん) (fun)
* → Korean: 본(本) (bon)
* → Vietnamese: bổn (本), bản (本)

desc

→ Thai: พื้น (pʉ́ʉn, “foundation, floor”)

→ Vietnamese: vốn

Ideogram (指事): a tree (木 (mù)) with its bottom highlighted with an extra stroke, accentuating the roots; contrast 末, 朱.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(b/p)ul (“root; stump; tree”) (STEDT). Cognate with Mizo bul (“cause; beginning; root; stump”), Jingpho phun (“tree; bush; stalk; wood”), Garo bol (“tree”).

cog

(Korean Classical Chinese) ancestral seat of a descent group


璧

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *peɡ): phonetic 辟 (OC *peɡ, *pʰeɡ, *beɡ) + semantic 玉 – a type of jade.


照

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (照):
* → Vietnamese: chiếu (照)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjews): semantic 灬 (“fire”) + phonetic 昭 (OC *tjew) – shine the light of a fire on.
Exoactive of 昭 (OC *tjew, “bright”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

燳
曌
瞾
炤*
耀
炤

You do not need to be afraid. I am here providing protection [to you].

nei⁵ m⁴ sai² geng¹, jau⁵ daai⁶ jan⁴ hai² dou⁶ ziu³ zyu⁶.

你唔使驚，有大人喺度照住。

你唔使惊，有大人喺度照住。


煤

→ Guiqiong: mɛi (“coal”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mɯː): semantic 火 (“fire”) + phonetic 某 (OC *mɯʔ).
Sino-Tibetan. Schuessler (2007) proposes two possibilities:
* Cognate with Proto-Lolo-Burmese *ʔ-mu² (“soot; acrid (smoke)”). If related, a merger of Minimal Old Chinese *ə with *o must have occurred.
* Cognate with Mizo mang (maŋᴿ), man (manᴸ, “sooty”), Mizo mang (maŋᴴ, “partially burnt wood”).
文 (OC *mɯn) may be a derivation with -n nominal suffix. 黑 (OC *hmlɯːɡ, “black”) may be an allofam. Unrelated to 晦 (OC *hmɯːs, “dark”) according to Schuessler (2007).


牢

→ Manchu: ᠯᠣᠣ (loo)

→ Solon: lō

→ Zhuang: lauz

→ Vietnamese: rào

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 宀 (“pen; animal yard”) + 牛 (“cow”)

Han compound

抱牢勿放

捏牢

伊吃牢我。

(Northern Wu) indicates continuous aspect


牽

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵¹/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵¹/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰiːn, *kʰiːns): phonetic 玄 (OC *ɡʷeːn) + semantic 牛 (“cow, ox”) — leading an ox by hand.


次

Characters in the same phonetic series (次) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and possibly phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sn̥ʰis): phonetic 二 (OC *njis, “two”) + semantic 欠. Given that the right part of the character depicts a man kneeling with an open mouth, the number two perhaps indicates "two people speaking".
As an alternative, the two horizontal traits 二 are the representation of some saliva spitted while speaking; hence, the act of speaking is represented without a reference to blown air or breathing (e.g., 曰, 丂, 于, 只). The original meaning was "to consult", 咨. Perhaps related to 㳄, which means "saliva"; however, this is not the original version of the character, but a variant.
Given that the character started meaning "following; inferior (to)", the component 二 in this second translation adds part of the meaning if interpreted as a number.
In all cases, the Kangxi radical "Ice" is a false friend of either "Number two" or two drops representing saliva; however, in some fonts, it is still possible to see 二. An old variant of the character is 𣄭.
Probably from *s- + 二 (OC *njis, “two”), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g/s-ni-s (Pulleyblank, 1962; Sagart and Baxter, 2012; STEDT).

Han compound

The people are the most important element in a nation; the spirits of the land and grain are the next; the sovereign is the lightest.

Mín wéi guì, shèjì cì zhī, jūn wéi qīng.

民為貴，社稷次之，君為輕。

民为贵，社稷次之，君为轻。


璞

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰroːɡ): semantic 玉 (“jade”) + phonetic 菐 (OC *boːɡ, *puɡ).


灰

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 又 (“hand”) + 火 (“fire”) – fire that can be touched with the hand (ash). 又 has been modified to 𠂇; compare 友 (“friend”), 右 (“right”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *pʷut ~ hwut (“ashes, dust”) (STEDT; Schuessler (2007) reconstructs Proto-Sino-Tibetan *wu). Compare Mizo vutᴸ, Apatani mù-bu, Manipuri ut, Northern Tujia bu³ ci².

inh

There's a layer of dust on the computer screen.

電腦屏幕上有一層灰。

电脑屏幕上有一层灰。

Tā chuī gānjìng zhè běn shū shàng de huī.

他吹乾淨這本書上的灰。

他吹干净这本书上的灰。


溝

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *koː): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 冓 (OC *koː, *koːs).
Possibly the k-prefix noun of 漏 (OC *roːs, “to leak”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

排水溝

排水沟

Dào xiàtiān, dàyǔ zhīhòu, nǐ biàn néng tīng dào xǔduō háma jiào, nà shì dōu zài gōu lǐmiàn de, yīnwèi Běijīng dàochù dōu yǒu gōu.

到夏天，大雨之後，你便能聽到許多蝦蟆叫，那是都在溝裡面的，因為北京到處都有溝。

到夏天，大雨之后，你便能听到许多虾蟆叫，那是都在沟里面的，因为北京到处都有沟。

ditch; trench; channel (artificial or natural) (Classifier: 條／条 m; 道 m)

壕溝

壕沟

to dig deep trenches and build high defensive walls

深溝高壘

深沟高垒

屁股溝

屁股沟

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