含

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡɯːm): phonetic 今 (OC *krɯm) + semantic 口 (“mouth”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *gam (“to put into mouth; to seize with mouth”) (STEDT); cognate with Tibetan འགམ་པ ('gam pa, “to put into the mouth”), Proto-Tani *g(j)am (“bite”).
Within Chinese, cognate with 函 (OC *ɡuːm, *ɡruːm, “to contain; box; letter”) (Schuessler, 2007). 銜 (OC *ɡraːm, “to carry in the mouth; horse's bit”) is probably related. Bodman (1980) considers 頷 (OC *ɡɯːm, *ɡɯːmʔ) to be the endoactive of 含 (OC *ɡɯːm, “to hold in the mouth”), literally “the thing that holds something in the mouth”.

och-l

今鋪真係含喇！

今铺真系含喇！

(Hong Kong Cantonese, euphemistic) Short for 含撚. (all senses)


公

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (公):
* → Japanese: 公(こう) (kō, “duke”)
* → Korean: 공(公) (gong, “duke”)
* → Vietnamese: công (公, “duke”)

→ Mongolian: гүн (gün)

→ Manchu: ᡤᡠᠩ (gung)

→ Thai: กง (gong, “grandfather”) (said by Chinese race)

Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus

The traditional interpretation as given by Han Feizi is that 公 is a compound of 八 (= 背 (“to deviate; opposite”)) and 厶 (original form of 私 (“individual; private”)), i.e. the opposite of “private” — “public”. This theory is supported by Sun Yirang and Qiang Kaiyun, despite the somewhat different shape of the bottom component from 厶.
This is disputed in modern times by Gao Hongjin, who thinks that the 八 on top stands for 分 (“to divide; to distribute”) and the bottom round component 口 symbolises a generic object. 公 thus represents “equally dividing resources so that they are communal”.
Another theory put forth by Zhu Fangpu is that 公 is a pictogram (象形), being the original form of 瓮 (OC *qloːŋs, “a wide-mouthed round-bottomed jar”), and later borrowed for the meanings of “public” and “male of older generation or higher rank”.
; "fair; impartial; public"
; "male of older generation or higher rank; duke; male (of animals)"
: STEDT provisionally sets up Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kaŋ (“father; grandfather; honorific”), also comparing it to 翁; compare Drung kangkang (“grandpa”), vkang (“(my/our) grandfather”), Burmese ခင် (hkang), as in မိခင် (mi.hkang, “mother”), ဖခင် (hpa.hkang, “father”). Alternatively, STEDT also compares it with Proto-Sino-Tibetan *gaŋ (“penis; male”), whence 雄 (OC *ɡʷɯŋ, “male”), but considers it less probable.
: Schuessler (2007) suggests a Mon-Khmer origin; compare Khmer ឡូញ (louñ, “title of an unidentified rank or function”) and Old Khmer khloñ (“head, chief”) (whence ខ្លោង (khlaong)). Compare also Thai ลุง (lung), from Proto-Tai *luŋᴬ (“parent's older brother”), which may also be from Mon-Khmer. Tibetan ཁོང (khong) ~ གོང (gong, “final syllable in dignitaries' name”) may be borrowed from Chinese.

cog

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


吝

Compare Tibetan སྲི (sri, “to be thrifty”), Proto-Central-Chin *ren (“to economize; frugal”) (whence Mizo ren) (Geilich, 1994).

恡
悋
㖁
𠫤
𠯛
𠯌
𠳈
𠳺
𠲲
𠳻
𠴽
𢙵


傷

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hljaŋ, *hljaŋs): semantic 人 + phonetic 𥏻 ().
Current form resembles 从 + 昜. The top component of the character is unrelated to 旅, 每, 复, 乞 as well as 人.
Perhaps a causative of 瘍 (OC *laŋ, “ulcers”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

傷大

伤大


取

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 耳 (“ear”) + 又 (“hand”) - often explained as "to take an enemy's ear and carry it in one's hand", following Shuowen.

取錢／取钱

取款


叫

/t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵¹/

/t͡ɕi̯ɒu̯⁴⁵/

/t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵¹/

/t͡ɕi̯ɒu̯⁴⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kiːws): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 丩 (OC *kɯw, *krɯw).

Han compound

呌
哯
嘂
嘄
噭
䚯
訆
𠮧
𠮪
𠶼
𠸵
䶷

叫他待在家裡。

叫他待在家里。

The doctor told him to lay off a couple of days.

醫生叫他休息幾天。

医生叫他休息几天。

Ask them not to try to contact me ever again

叫佢唔好再搵我

叫佢唔好再揾我

ask them to teach you a few phrases of Chinese

giu³ keoi⁵ gaau³ nei⁵ gei² geoi³ zung¹ man⁴⁻²

叫佢教你幾句中文

叫佢教你几句中文

"Ask your 'Jesus' to come down and watch!"

“giu³ nei⁵ je⁴ sou¹ lok⁶ lai⁴ gin³ ngo⁵ dei⁶!”

「叫你耶穌落嚟見我哋！」

「叫你耶稣落嚟见我哋！」


厚

Sino-Xenic (厚):
* → Korean: 후(厚) (hu)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 厂 (“cliff; cave on a cliff”) + 𣆪 (“jug”). According to Shuowen, 𣆪 is an inverted 亯.

厚禮

厚礼

He whose morality is not great cannot command the people.

Zhanguo Ce, circa 5ᵗʰ – 3ʳᵈ centuries BCE

道德不厚者不可以使民。

The sky is high and the sun and moon are bright; the earth is large and trees and grass grow.

Cheon go irweol myeong, ji hu chomok saeng.

天高日月明，地厚草木生。

深情厚誼

深情厚谊

The coffin of the son of Heaven is fourfold. The hides of a water-buffalo and a rhinoceros, overlapping each other, [form the first,] three inches in thickness.

The Book of Rites, c. 4ᵗʰ – 2ⁿᵈ century BCE

Tiānzǐ zhī guān sìzhòng; shuǐ sì gé guān bèi zhī, qí hòu sān cùn.

天子之棺四重；水兕革棺被之，其厚三寸。

(～鎮) Hou (a town in Lantian, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China)


咖

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 加 (OC *kraːl).

Only used in 咖啡 (kāfēi); also used as its short form.


受

Possibly a ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 爪 (“hand”) + 凡 (“plate”) + 又 (“hand”) – to hand over.
凡 in the middle was corrupted into 舟 (OC *tjɯw), which acted as a phonetic component. Alternatively, the character may have always been a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tuːs, *djuʔ): semantic 爪 (“hand”) + phonetic 舟 (OC *tjɯw, “boat”) + semantic 又 (“hand”). The
凡 or 舟 has been simplified to 冖 since the seal script.
; “bottom; uke”

Han compound

受驚嚇

受惊吓

受人煽動

受人煽动


各

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 夂 (“sole of foot”) + 口 – to come, to enter; original form of 𢓜 and 格 (OC *klaːɡ, *kraːɡ). The mouth could be referred to the entrance of a cavern or building (see 高, 去 and 谷; however, this is not the case in 向). Compare 出.
Sino-Tibetan. Derived from 舉 (OC kaʔ) with distributive suffix -k. Cognate with Proto-Lolo-Burmese *ka (“all”) (Schuessler, 2007)

(dialectal, derogatory) sticking out; odd; unusual


吹

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯eɪ̯⁵⁵/

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯eɪ̯⁵⁵/

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 口 (“mouth”) + 欠 (“blow”).

斬草不除根，春風吹又生／斩草不除根，春风吹又生

zhǎn cǎo bù chúgēn, chūnfēng chuī yòu shēng

繼續吹吖！

继续吹吖！

你吹呀？

(Cantonese) Short for 吹脹／吹胀 (ceoi¹ zoeng³).


吹

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯eɪ̯⁵¹/

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯eɪ̯⁵¹/

^⁜ wind instruments; music performed with wind instruments


哭

→ Vietnamese: khóc (哭, 泣)

In oracle bone inscriptions, ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 吅 (“loudly”) + person with long hair (Similar to 老 without the cane) – "cry; weep". The pictogram of the person with long hair corrupted into 犬. Evidence suggests 吅 could be an abbreviation of the sound component 咢 (OC *ŋaːɡ), making the character phono-semantic (形聲／形声).
Shuowen Jiezi interprets it as a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋ̊ʰoːɡ): semantic 吅 (“to speak loudly”) + abbreviated phonetic 獄 (OC *ŋoɡ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kuːk (“to weep; to wail”); cognate with Mizo kûk (“to shriek”) (STEDT).
This seems to be an area word; compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *kuk ~ kuuk ~ kuək ~ kək (“to call”), Proto-Austronesian *-kuk (“sound of a sob”) (Schuessler, 2007).


匹

Uncertain. Various theories have been proposed based on the evidence from the bronze inscriptions:
* Pictogram (象形) of folds in cloth (Lin, 1920);
* Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰid): semantic 石 (“rock”) + phonetic 乙 (OC *qriɡ) or 乀 (MC phjut). The phonetic component may be replaced with 匕 (OC *pilʔ) (not shown above);
* Ideogram (指事): half of 丙 (“two horses”) – one horse (Zhang et al., 1996), but the origin of the character 丙 is also uncertain (for example, it could be the tail of a fish).
Shuowen considers it to be an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰid): phonetic 八 (OC *preːd, “eight”) + semantic 匸 (“to conceal”) – unit of measuring cloth. 八 refers to eight folds in one 匹 of cloth (two bolts of cloth), and 匸 refers to concealing the two ends of the cloth when rolling it up. This interpretation is not likely since the older forms evidently do not contain these components.
Uncertain. Possibly related to Khmer ពីរ (pii, “two”) or Mizo phîr (“double; forked; twin”) (Schuessler, 2007).
Wang (1982) considers it to be cognate with 比 (OC *piʔ, “to compare; to match”), 媲 (OC *pʰiːs, “to match; to pair”).
The meaning “four zhang of cloth” is probably a special application, but it is reminiscent of Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b-ləj (“four”) (ibid.).

Han compound

(Sichuanese) Classifier for long, thin objects (bones, feathers, grass, bamboo strips, etc.).


啟

(Chinese mythology) Qi of Xia (second king of the semi-legendary Xia dynasty)

Short for 啟示錄／启示录 (Qǐshìlù, “Revelation”).


嗚

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qaː): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 烏 (OC *qaː).

Han compound

(onomatopoeia) Sound of sobbing or crying.


切

/t͡sʰiɛt̚³²/

/t͡sʰiɛt̚³²/

(phonetics) Short for 反切 (fǎnqiè, “fanqie”).


勝

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (勝):
* → Vietnamese: thắng (勝)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hljɯŋ, *hljɯŋs): phonetic 朕 (OC *l'ɯmʔ) + semantic 力 (“strength”).
Graphically, the character decomposes as 月 + 劵 (which gives rise to the simplified form 胜), though this is not the etymology.


下

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (下):
* → Japanese: 下(か) (ka); 下(げ) (ge)
* → Korean: 하(下) (ha)
* → Vietnamese: hạ (下)

Characters in the same phonetic series (下) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
In oracle bone script, it is an ideogram (指事) that shows the concept of "down" by showing one line below another (contrast 上). This form evolved into 下 in later scripts, the character used today.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(k/g)la-k/j/t (“to fall”) (STEDT):
* inside Sinitic, cognate with 落 (OC *ɡ·raːɡ, “to fall, to drop”), 露 (OC *ɡ·raːɡs, “dew”), 陊 (OC *l'aːlʔ, *l'alʔ, “to collapse”) and 阤 (OC *l'alʔ, *hljalʔ, “hillside, slope”);
* outside Sinitic, cognate with Mizo tla ~ tlâk (“to fall”), thla ~ thlâk (“to drop”), Burmese ကျ (kya., “to fall”) and ချ (hkya., “to drop”).
Schuessler (2007) instead proposed an Austroasiatic origin by comparing 下 (OC *ɡraːʔ, “to descend, down, below”) to Khmer [script needed] (gra'ka, “be low, debased”); additionally, he suggested that Sino-Tibetan influence had possibly caused the weakening of foreign final *-k to OC final *-ʔ. He derives the departing tone (去聲) pronunciation via two derivations:
* 下 (OC *ɡraːs, “to be put down”) is an exopassive derivation (ibid.);
* 下 (OC *ɡraːs, “to descend, to fall”) is a later, general departing tone derivative (ibid.).

cog

GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)

(historical, obsolete) Synonym of 點／点 (diǎn): an ancient unit of time, equal to 24 minutes


喚

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qʰʷaːns): semantic 口 + phonetic 奐 (OC *qʰʷaːns).


半

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 八 (“to divide”) + 牛 (“cow”) – to cut a cow into two halves.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *par. Related to 畔 (OC *baːns, “bank between fields”), which is an endopassive of 半 (OC *paːns, “half”), lit. "be separated from".

全國人口的一半／全国人口的一半

一磅半 [Cantonese] ― jat¹ bong⁶ bun³ [Jyutping] ― 1½ pounds

十點半／十点半 [Cantonese] ― sap⁶ dim² bun³ [Jyutping] ― 10:30

半醉半醒

九半 [Cantonese] ― gau² bun³ [Jyutping] ― half past nine

(Hong Kong, informal, neologism) half past


嗅

Simplified from 齅 (鼻 → 口); in current form: Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qʰlus, *qʰluŋs): semantic 口 + phonetic 臭 (OC *kʰljus).


印

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (印):
* → Japanese: 印(いん) (in)
* → Korean: 인(印) (in)
* → Vietnamese: ấn (印)

→ Vietnamese: in (印, “to print”)

Characters in the same phonetic series (印) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 爪 (“hand”) + 卩 (“kneeling person”) – a hand suppressing a kneeling person.
According to 羅振玉 in his book 《增訂殷墟書契考釋》(1915), the character is an ideogram of a hand suppressing a kneeling person. The character 抑 (yì) (to suppress) was used to preserve the original meaning.


印

印度尼西亞 印度尼西亞#Chinese

印度尼西亚 印度尼西亚#Chinese

Short for 印度尼西亞／印度尼西亚 (Yìndùníxīyà, “Indonesia”).


噇

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯ɑŋ³⁵/

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯ɑŋ³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *rdoːŋ): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 童 (OC *doːŋ).

Han compound

t͡sʰouŋ⁵³ pa³³ kʰaʔ²⁴⁻²¹ ɛiŋ⁵³

Have nothing else to do. / Don't you have nothing else to do? / Mind your own concerns/business.

Chòng bā kák-èng. / [t͡sʰouŋ⁵³ pa³³ kʰaʔ²⁴⁻²¹ ɛiŋ⁵³]

噇飽恰閒。

t͡sʰouŋ⁵³ pa³³ kʰaʔ²⁴⁻²¹ ɛiŋ⁵³

噇饱恰闲。

(now dialectal) to eat; to eat and drink without a limit


化

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (化):
* → Japanese: 化(け) (ke); 化(か) (ka)
* → Korean: 화(化) (hwa)
* → Vietnamese: hoá (化)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) of two 人 (“person”), one upright (亻) and one upside down (𠤎) — reversal; change. Shuowen also considers 𠤎 to be a phonetic component.
Compare 并, 比, 卬, 尼 and 北.

化寶／化宝


哥

→ Thai: โก (goo, “older brother”) (typically said by ethnic Chinese)

Stacked form of 可 (OC *kʰaːlʔ), perhaps an open mouth with breath going out while talking or singing. In fact, the original meaning of 哥 and perhaps 可 was "to sing; song".
; “elder brother”
: It is a clipping of 阿哥 (MC 'a ka), a borrowing from Xianbei *aqa (“elder brother”) (Mei, 2015). Compare Proto-Mongolic *aka, whence also Mongolian ᠠᠬᠠ (ak-a, “elder brother”). Related to 阿干 (MC 'a kan), which is the definite form of the same Xianbei word (Mei, 2015).

>< - face-to-face; <> - non-face-to-face

(honorific) term of address for a male person of the same age or older


向

Sino-Xenic (向):
* → Vietnamese: hướng (向)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 宀 (“house”) + 口 (“mouth”), echos in a place. The original form of 響. It was borrowed to represent 𠨍 (嚮) later. The mouth doesn't represent an opening (e.g., a door or a window) as in 高 and 谷. Similar to 冋.
; “ACG: for (directed at, intended to belong to)”


咬

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kreːw, *ŋɡreːwʔ, *qreːw): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 交 (OC *kreːw).
(oral sex): Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 口 + 交.
Perhaps Sino-Tibetan; compare Chepang ङेव्ह्सा (ŋewh-, “to nibble”) (Schuessler, 2007). The Min vernacular readings are reminiscent of Proto-Tai *giəwꟲ (“to chew”), whence Thai เคี้ยว (kíao) (ibid.).

Han compound

這個字他咬得很準。

这个字他咬得很准。

1919, 《新舊約全書：官話和合譯本》 [Mandarin Bible, Union Version], Shanghai: American Bible Society, 士師記 [Judges] 12:6:

they said to him, “Then say Shibboleth,” and he [the Ephraimite] said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. (English Standard Version)

jiù duì tā shuō, Nǐ shuō shìbōliè. Yǐfǎliánrén, yīnwèi yǎo bù zhēn zìyīn, biàn shuō xībōliè.

就對他說、你說示播列．以法蓮人、因爲咬不眞字音、便說西播列．

就对他说、你说示播列．以法莲人、因为咬不真字音、便说西播列．

(neologism, slang, euphemistic) Alternative form of 口交 (kǒujiāo, “oral sex; to perform oral sex on”)


卒

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (卒):
* → Japanese: 卒(そつ) (sotsu)
* → Korean: 졸(卒) (jol)
* → Vietnamese: tốt (卒)

There were 5 forms of 卒 in Shang oracle bone script (Qiu, 1990; Xuan, 2012):
# : same as 衣 (“clothes”) (> Western Zhou bronze script );
# : a crisscross 衣 - a completed clothing;
# (卒): ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 衣 (“clothes”) with a mark - a completed clothing to be folded (> Warring States bronze script ; Chu slip and silk script );
# (𧙻): phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): 衣 (“clothes”) + 聿 (OC *b·lud) (hand (又) holding a brush);
# ,: 𧙻 having 又 omitted.
The brush shape in form (5) was often placed upside down. Later the inverted brush shape was mistaken as 又 and then moved to the top as in Chu slip and silk script (𰠄) to avoid obscuration with 袁 (衣 + 又) (Xuan, 2012).
From 遭 (OC *ʔsluː, “to meet”) + nominal suffix *-t (Schuessler, 2007).

(xiangqi) pawn; private; soldier: 🩭 (on the black side)


利

Characters in the same phonetic series (利) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 禾 (“grain”) + 刀 (“knife”) – to reap grain (禾) with a knife (刀). See also the variant 𥝢, which appears on top of the character 黎.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ri:t (“to reap, scrape, shave, cut, sever”) (STEDT, Schuessler, 2007); cognate to Mizo rîit (“to scrap with a hoe”), Western Gurung [script needed] (wriqba, “to scratch”), Burmese ရိတ် (rit, “to cut, reap, mow shave”).


可

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰaːlʔ): semantic 口 + phonetic 丂 (OC *kʰluːʔ) with a reference to exhaled air. Perhaps its original meaning was "to sing", then 訶 and 哥 (可 written twice).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-kal ~ *s-gal (“back (lower); kidney; load; carry”) (STEDT). Cognate with 荷 (OC *qʰaːls, *ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ, “to carry”). See there for more.

och-l

16th century, chapter 31, in Journey to the West:

Shì ge shénme Sūn Xíngzhě? Wǒ kě pà tā? Tā ruò lái, wǒ bō le tā pí, chōu le tā jīn, kěn le tā gǔ, chī le tā xīn!

是個甚麼孫行者？我可怕他？他若來，我剝了他皮，抽了他筋，啃了他骨，吃了他心！

是个甚么孙行者？我可怕他？他若来，我剥了他皮，抽了他筋，啃了他骨，吃了他心！

(archaic or dialectal) Used to form a rhetorical question.

A particle.
Used to form a rhetorical question.


喊

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qʰaːmʔ, *qʰrɯːmʔ, *ɡrɯːmʔ): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 咸 (OC *ɡrɯːm).

Han compound

喊叫


嘉

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kraːl): semantic 壴 + phonetic 加 (OC *kraːl).
Related to Burmese ကဲ (kai:, “to overdo, exceed”) (Hill (2019)).

Han compound

勇氣可嘉

勇气可嘉


哀

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qɯːl): phonetic 衣 (OC *qɯl, *qɯls) + semantic 口 (“mouth”).
Probably sound-symbolic (Schuessler, 2007).


別

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (別):
* → Vietnamese: biệt (別)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 冎 (“bone”) + 刂 (“knife”) – to cut up bone and flesh.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *brat (“cut apart, cut open”). Cognate to 八 (OC *preːd, “to divide; to differentiate”), 列 (OC *red), 裂 (OC *red).
Mei (2008) proposes that the intransitive sense "to leave, to part" (with voiced initial *b- in Middle Chinese) is primary and that the transitive sense "to discriminate, to discriminate" (with voiceless initial *p-) is derived from the intransitive sense with the Old Chinese causative prefix *s-, resulting in a devoicing effect: *s-b- > *s-p- > *p-; compare 黑 (OC *s-mək, “black”) from 墨 (OC *mək, “ink”). On the other hand, Sagart and Baxter (2012) consider the intransitive sense to be derived from the transitive sense (*pret) by prefixation of *N-, resulting in a voicing effect: *N-p- > *N-b- > *b-; compare 敗 (OC *N-pˤrat-s, “to suffer defeat”) from 敗 (OC *pˤrat-s, “to defeat”).
Sense "do not" is a contraction of 不要 (bùyào).

och-l

See also: 逼

to interpret lottery poetry (poetry associated with fortune sticks)

別籤詩

别签诗

(Southern Min) to interpret (one's fortune); to predicate

incorrectly written or mispronounced character

別字

别字


厝

Traditionally thought to be derived from etymology 3, but its etymology is disputed. Norman (1984) argues for a derivation from 戍 (OC *hljos, “to garrison the frontier”), while Zhengzhang (2014) proposes that it is from 處 (OC *kʰljas, “residence”). Zeng et al. (2024) argue that it descended from 舍 (OC *hljaːs, “lodging-house”).

𠪞
錯
𥕉
戍
茨
㢀
𡪣
次
聚
陬
宿
處
室

He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it [the house] was founded upon a rock.

1896, Séng Iŏ̤ Cṳ̌ing Sṳ́: Gṳ̄ing-nǎing Hǔ gâ̤ Tǔ-kióng (Lô̤-mǎ Cī), Lū-gá 6:48

Gṳ̀ su̿-siōng cì-ciă nêng kṳé chio̤̿, diá gṳ̄-dă̤ cèng chéng, chio̤̿-gí ca̿ da̿u ciō̤-ngâng ciōng-bíng: ca̿ duōi-sṳ̌ gâ̤ sî-hē, sṳ̌ chè̤ng-diō̤ iŏ̤ng chio̤̿, mài mà-dă̤ gṳ̀ dòng; éng-ṳē chio̤̿ kṳé-dă̤ ì-lò̤.

佢似像一隻人開厝，地掘得盡深，厝基做到石巖上邊：做大水其時候，水撞著樣厝，𣍐𢫦得佢動；因為厝開得實落。

佢似像一只人开厝，地掘得尽深，厝基做到石岩上边：做大水其时候，水撞着样厝，𫧃𢫦得佢动；因为厝开得实落。

There are a few houses built with bricks; they look quite ordinary

Ū kúi keng chhù iōng chng-á khōng, khòaⁿ--khí-lâi phó͘-thong phó͘-thong

有幾間厝用磚仔砌 看起來普通普通

有几间厝用砖仔砌 看起来普通普通


嚽

For pronunciation and definitions of 嚽 – see 啜 (“to taste; to eat; to drink; to sip; etc.”).
(This character is a variant form of 啜).


前

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (前):
* → Japanese: 前(ぜん) (zen)
* → Korean: 전(前) (jeon)
* → Vietnamese: tiền (前)

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³⁵/

Originally 歬, an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 止 (“foot”) + 舟 (“boat”) – a foot on a boat moving forward. Alternatively, 舟 represents a shoe (cf. Shuowen 履: 舟象履形) — a foot with a shoe on to walk forward.
In the current form, 止 is simplified to 䒑 and 舟 to 月. The current form with an additional 刀 (“knife”) (𠝣 > 𣦃 > 前) is the original form of 剪 (OC *ʔslenʔ, “to cut”).
Unrelated to 俞.
Unknown (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

前方

前門

前门

往前走

房子前有一棵樹。

房子前有一棵树。

Sima Xi reproaches Shi the Mohist (or "a Mohist master") on the merit of "non-belligerence" before (lit., in front of) the King of Zhongshan.

Lü Buwei, Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals, 239 BCE

Sīmǎ Xǐ nàn Mòzhě Shī yú Zhōngshānwáng qián yǐ Fēigōng.

司馬喜難墨者師於中山王前以非攻。

司马喜难墨者师于中山王前以非攻。


不

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (不):
* → Japanese: 不(ふ) (fu)
* → Korean: 불(不) (bul), 부(不) (bu)
* → Vietnamese: bất (不)

Emperor Zhao of Han
Shang Dynasty
Shuowen
naming taboo

Characters in the same phonetic series (不) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形): the calyx of a flower. 不 was then composed into a phono-semantic character with the pictograph for mouth (口), to form 否 (OC *brɯʔ, *pɯʔ), representing “no” (negation). This composed meaning then spread back to the original character 不, making it a synonym of 否. A new character of 柎 (OC *po) was eventually created to represent the original meaning of calyx.
Following Shuowen’s interpretation, Karlgren and Wieger interpret it as a bird flying toward the sky (一). The sky being the limit for the bird, thus the idea of negation.
Old Chinese had two sets of negatives: the initial *p-series and the initial *m-series. 不 is the prototype of the *p-series of negatives. Although it is the usual Literary Chinese negative attested from the oracle bone script down, its current usage is now confined to Mandarin dialects. In the oracle bone inscriptions, a total of five negative particles can be found: 不, 弗, 毋, 勿 and 非. With the exception of 非 (discussed later), the remaining can be neatly organised into the following system:
Takahashi (1996) argued that the *m-type negatives are modal (i.e. negative verbs which are thought of as controllable by the Shang), whereas the *p-type negatives are non-modal (imply uncontrollability; actions which are beyond the control of living persons).
In the *p-series, 不 usually goes with intransitive verbs in the oracle bone script, and 弗 (OC *pɯd) with transitive ones, although there are some glaring exceptions. Little or no pattern can be discerned in the *m-type category. Takahashi (1996) also proposed that the difference between the two vowel series was whether they preceded “stative, eventive, passive” (*-V series) or “non-stative, non-eventive, active” (*-ɯd series) verbs.
It is possible that the two parallel series of negatives in Old Chinese represent a fusion of the common Sino–Tibetan *ma (“no, not”) (carried by the eastward-migrating early Sino–Tibetans) and an indigenous negation system in Central China, and that the merger had been complete by the Shang times. Compare a similar system in Proto-Tai: *ɓawᴮ (“not [strong form 1]”), *boːᴮ (“not [strong form 2]”), *miːᴬ (“not [weak form]”); Thai บ่ (bɔ̀ɔ, “(literary, archaic, dialectal) not”).
The development from Old Chinese to Middle Chinese was not regular. The character 不 replaced 弗 (OC *pɯd, MC *piut), to respect the naming taboo for Emperor Zhao of Han, although the pronunciation has remained in nearly all topolects (e.g. Beijing Mandarin bù, Guangzhou Cantonese bat¹, Meixian Hakka bud⁵, Shanghainese Wu peq). The Modern Standard Mandarin pronunciation is also from this checked coda word, but this word escaped from regular sound changes during its evolution to the modern pronunciation bù. The expected reading is fu (tone undetermined), with labiodentalisation. The rising-tone pronunciation had a Middle Chinese homophone 否 (“not”), which is now primarily used in compounds, and demonstrates the regular development into modern f-. Another example of a high-frequency word escaping this sound change is 父 (OC *paʔ, *baʔ, “dad”), which resulted in the late coinage of the character 爸 (bà).
不 is cognate with other negation particles in the *p-type category:
* 弗 (OC *pɯd, “not”);
* 非 (OC *pɯj, “not be; not”) – can be safely regarded as a fusion of 不 (OC *pɯ, *pɯʔ, *pɯ', “not”) and 惟 (OC *ɢʷi, “to be”);
* 否 (OC *brɯʔ, *pɯʔ, “not; to be wrong”);
* 匪 (OC *pɯjʔ, “it is not; to be not”); and
* 棐 (OC *pɯjʔ, “it is not; to be not”).
Cognate with Thai บ่ (bɔ̀ɔ, “(literary, archaic, dialectal) not”) (Schuessler, 2007).

cog

這個不好。

这个不好。

他不愛你。

他不爱你。


啼

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *deː): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 帝 (OC *teːɡs).

Han compound

嗁
㖒
㖷
渧
*諦
謕

(dialectal, by extension) to cry; to weep


嚏

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tiːɡs): semantic 口 + phonetic 疐 (OC *tiːɡs, *tiɡs).

Han compound

嚔
㖒
啑
㗣
䶍
䶑
⿰口⿳十冖疋


噬

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djads): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 筮 (OC *djads).
Sagart (2021c) revises the Old Chinese reconstruction as *m-tet-s, from volitional prefix *m- + a root *tet-s (“to bite”), from which 瘈 (OC *k(ə)-tet-s, “mad; rabid (dog)”) also derives.


刺

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰeɡs, *sʰeɡ): phonetic 朿 (OC *sʰeɡs) + semantic 刂 (“knife”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-tshyar ~ *g-zyar (“thorn, nail, tack”) (provisional) (STEDT); cognate with Tibetan ཚེར་མ (tsher ma, “thorn, thorn bush”), གཟེར་བ (gzer ba, “to bore into”), and གཟེར (gzer, “nail”) (Schuessler, 2007).
刺 (OC *tsekh) "attack, satirize" (Zuozhuan) < "criticize" (Shijing) < lit. "cause to be stabbed" is exopassive/exoactive derivation of 刺 (OC *tsek) "pierce, stab" (ibid.); 朿 (OC tsʰie^C) "thorn" (SW) is Han period's general tone-C derivation of 刺 (OC *tsʰiek) (ibid.)

cog

假直刺


嘻

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qʰɯ): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 喜 (OC *qʰlɯʔ).

Han compound

What?! How exhausted they truly are! But still, I will today conquer this town before returning.

Commentary of Gongyang, c. 206 BCE– 9 CE

Xī, shènyǐ bèi! Suīrán, wú jīn qǔ cǐ ránhòu ér guī ěr.

嘻，甚矣憊！雖然，吾今取此然後而歸爾。

嘻，甚矣惫！虽然，吾今取此然后而归尔。


唱

/t͡sʰuɔŋ²¹³/

/t͡sʰiaŋ²¹³/

/t͡sʰuɔŋ²¹³/

/t͡sʰiaŋ²¹³/

Characters in the same phonetic series (昌) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tʰjaŋs): semantic 口 + phonetic 昌 (OC *tʰjaŋ).
Same word as 倡 (OC *tʰjaŋs, “to lead; to advocate”). Schuessler (2007), reconstructing the Old Chinese minimally as *k-hlaŋh, considers it to be a Sino-Tibetan word; compare Burmese အချင်း (a.hkyang:, “song, poem”) and perhaps also Proto-Bodo-Garo *lʔəŋ (“to sing”).


囟

Pictogram (象形) – fontanelle. See also 𡿺 and its simplification 㐫.


去

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 大 (“man”) + 口 (“mouth, object”). Top figure simplified to 土, unrelated to 士 (“scholar, gentleman”), while bottom simplified to 厶. There are various interpretations of the combination of “man” and “mouth, object”. One is that the ideograph represented a man with a hole marked in his crotch, with the idea of “anus” (i.e. getting rid of) (Schuessler, 2007). Another is that it represented a man departing from a cave or city.
Alternatively, it may be the original character of 呿 (OC *kʰal, *kʰas, *kʰab, “to open one's mouth”), the meaning given by the combination of 大 (“big”) and 口 (“mouth”). The meaning “to depart” would be an extension of the meaning “to open one's mouth”, as the lips depart from each other when one's mouth is open.
Shuowen Jiezi interprets the character as a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰaʔ, *kʰas): semantic 大 (“man”) + phonetic 𠙴 ().
In addition, 去 is also the original character of 盍 (OC *ɡaːb, “to cover”). The 大 could be a cover on top of an object 口.
The man on top is simplified as 土 as in 赤 and 走 (< 𧺆).
There were two pronunciations in Middle Chinese. The rising tone pronunciation originally meant “to put away, to eliminate” (causative of “to go away”), and the falling tone “to go away, to leave, to depart” (anticausative). The merger of the two pronunciations already happened in Old Chinese and most extant dialects do not observe this distinction now.
This word is of Sino-Tibetan origin with the basic meaning of "to get rid of". Compare Tibetan སྐྱག (skyag, “to spend, to lay out; dung, excrement”), རྐྱག (rkyag, “dirt, excrement”), Burmese ကျ (kya., “to fall, to become low”), ချ (hkya., “to put down, to bring down, to lower”).

cog

† - euphemistic; ‡ - usually of the elderly; ¤ - humorous; § - derogatory/disrespectful

to go down [ant. 下來／下来 (xiàlái, “to come down”)]

下去

下來

下来

送去

Used after a verb of motion to indicate movement away from the speaker.

66th tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "departure" (𝍇)

我去

(neologism) what the hell; what; damn; fuck


囍

/ʂu̯ɑŋ⁵⁵ ɕi²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

/sœːŋ⁵⁵ hei̯³⁵/

/søyŋ⁵⁵⁻⁵³ ⁽ʰ⁻⁾ŋi³³/

/siaŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ hi⁴¹/

/siaŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ hi⁵³/

/saŋ³³ hi⁵⁵⁴/

/ʂu̯ɑŋ⁵⁵ ɕi²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

/sœːŋ⁵⁵ hei̯³⁵/

/søyŋ⁵⁵⁻⁵³ ⁽ʰ⁻⁾ŋi³³/

/siaŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ hi⁴¹/

/siaŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ hi⁵³/

/saŋ³³ hi⁵⁵⁴/

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 喜 + 喜 (“happiness”). Duplication of 喜, the two characters representing the bride and groom.


嚨

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *roːŋ): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 龍 (OC *b·roŋ, *mroːŋ).


原

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 泉 (“spring”) + 厂 (“cliff”) – a spring bursting from a cliff-side – origin. A conservative variant is 厡, in which water is well visible at the bottom.
The sense “source, origin; basic, primary” is perhaps related to 元 (OC *ŋon, “head; principal; first; great”) (Qiu, 1988). According to Schuessler (2007), in Shijing 原 meant "a plain" as well as "highland", thus perhaps also related to 元 (OC *ŋon) (see also Qiu, 2000).
元 and 原 had been used interchangeably in the sense "origin" until 原 became favoured in the early Ming dynasty to avoid the name of the Yuan dynasty. Confer 元由, 元來／元来 and 元配.


嚗

(onomatopoeia) sound of an object splitting or breaking apart


告

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 牛 (“ox”) + 口, an ox head above a container to gather its blood. Originally meaning "to pray and offer sacrifice".
Cognate with Thai กล่าว (glàao, “to say; to declare”) (Schuessler, 2007).

cog

to accuse; to sue; to file a lawsuit; to press charges


中

Pictogram (象形) – a flagpole. Based on archaeological evidence, the middle box has been interpreted as a drum (建鼓). This flagpole with a drum was placed in the center of a field to gather people and to detect the direction of the wind. In addition, the pronunciation of 中 (OC *tuŋ, *tuŋs) is reminiscent of the beating of a drum.
Shuowen interprets the character as a vertical stroke 丨 passing through the center of 口, indicating the center.
It has also been interpreted as an arrow in the center of a target.
“Middle; centre” (Pronunciation 1) > “to hit the centre; to attain” (Pronunciation 2).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *t/duŋ. Cognate with Tibetan གཞུང (gzhung, “middle, center”).
Related to:
* 衷 (OC *tuŋ, *tuŋs, “middle; inner garment; inner feelings”);
* 仲 (OC *duŋs, “second (of the brothers or months)”).

och-l

發展中國家

发展中国家

網頁正在建設中。

网页正在建设中。

while; in the process of; during; in the middle of

五四中二十 [Cantonese] ― ng⁵ sei³ zung¹ ji⁶ sap⁶ [Jyutping] ― five time four equals twenty

中醫

中医

中美關係

中美关系

the Hong Kong anti-extradition demonstrations (protests in Hong Kong, 2019)

hoeng¹ gong² faan² sung³ zung¹ jau⁴ hang⁴

香港反送中遊行

香港反送中游行

Short for 中國／中国 (Zhōngguó, “China; Chinese”).

三中

Short for 中學／中学 (zhōngxué, “middle school”). Used only in the abbreviation of the name.

中學

1st tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "the center" (𝌆)


中

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (中):
* → Japanese: 中(ちゅう) (chū); 中(じゅう) (jū)
* → Korean: 중(中) (jung)
* → Vietnamese: trung (中), trúng (中)

→ Vietnamese: đúng (“correct”)

ja-r

→ Japanese: 中(チュン) (chun, “red dragon (mahjong tile)”)

The missile successfully hit the target.

導彈成功擊中目標。

导弹成功击中目标。

真讓他說中了。

真让他说中了。

to hit the mark; to be correct; to be successful


喙

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hlods, *l̥ʰjods): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 彖 (OC *l̥ʰjelʔ, *hljelʔ, *l̥ʰoːns).

Han compound

(Min) Classifier for bites or mouthfuls.


嚳

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰuːɡ): phonetic 學 (OC *ɡruːɡ) + semantic 告 (“to tell”). 告 (OC *kuːɡs, *kuːɡ) may also be a phonetic component.


嘗

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djaŋ): phonetic 尚 (OC *djaŋ, *djaŋs) + semantic 旨 (“will; intention”).

Han compound

alt. forms: 嚐／尝 (cháng)

來嘗嘗這個蛋糕吧。

来尝尝这个蛋糕吧。

Shi Nai'an, Water Margin, circa 14ᵗʰ century CE

Nǐ qiě duō yī píng yùjiǔ guòlái, wǒ xiān cháng yī cháng zīwèi.

你且掇一瓶御酒過來，我先嘗一嘗滋味。

你且掇一瓶御酒过来，我先尝一尝滋味。


善

Originally written 譱 in bronze inscriptions, consisting of two 言 (OC *ŋan) and one 羊. The 言 (OC *ŋan) might have served as the phonetic component, while 羊 represented the sense "good; beautiful". The small seal script of 善 was simplified from the bronze inscription form, consisting of one 言 below one 羊.
According to Shuowen, the form
譱 is an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 誩 (“to wrangle”) + 羊 (“sheep”) – good; virtuous. This interpretation may be difficult to comprehend.
Probably related to 繕 (OC *ɡjens, “to mend; to repair”).

譱
𠲘
𠵊
𠾄
𦎍
𦏟
𦏯
𧨅
𧬆
𧮟

善用

善自珍重 ― shàn zì zhēnzhòng


叔

→ English: Ah Chek

→ Malay: encik

→ Indonesian: encik

→ Tagalog: Intsik

→ Cebuano: Insik

→ Thai: เจ๊ก (jék)

→ Khmer: ចិក (cək)

→ Vietnamese: Chệch

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hljɯwɢ): phonetic 尗 (OC *hljɯwɢ, “wooden stake”) + semantic 又 (“hand”) – using a wooden stake to dig the ground. Later borrowed for other uses.

Sagart (1999) connects it to 督 (OC *ᵃtuk, “middle”) and reconstructs the Old Chinese as *ᵇs-tuk, the prefix possibly having a nominalizing function.
Alternatively, Starostin proposes a possible derivation from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *t(h)u (~ -iw) (“nephew”) and reconstructs the Old Chinese as *tikʷ (< *tiw-k?) ~ *tu-k.

inh

尗
𠁮
𡬟
𡬧
𡭫
𭣬
𠦑
𢆑
尗
掓
𠁮
𡬟
𡬧
𡭫
𭣬
𠦑
𢆑

uncle (a term of address for a man around one's father's age or slightly younger)


囑

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjoɡ): semantic 口 + phonetic 屬 (OC *tjoɡ, *djoɡ).

Han compound

to entrust; to put into the care of; to request


唾

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tʰoːls): semantic 口 + phonetic 垂 (OC *djol).
Sino-Tibetan; compare Tibetan ཐོ་ལེ (tho le, “spit”), Burmese တွေး (twe:, “spittle”) (Coblin, 1986; Schuessler, 2007; Hill, 2014).

Han compound

唾腺


雨

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (雨):
* → Japanese: 雨(う) (u)
* → Korean: 우(雨) (u)
* → Vietnamese: vũ (雨)

Pictogram (象形) – a cloud with drops of rain falling from it. The horizontal stroke at the top was added later. (Compare Egyptian 𓇲.)
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k/r/s-wa.


參

Shuowen
Three Stars (Chinese constellation)

Simplified from 曑 (晶 → 厽).
The bronze script form is an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 晶 (“stars”) + 光 (“light; brightness”) + 彡 (“light rays”) – Three Stars mansion. 彡 (OC *sroːm, *slom) also acts as a phonetic component. Ignoring the lines connecting the three stars, 光 may be interpreted as 卩 (“kneeling person”), representing someone looking at the shining stars above him.
Alternatively, it may be the original character of 簪 (OC *ʔsɯːm, *ʔsrɯm, “hairpin”), since the bronze script forms resemble a person wearing a hat with three stars.
Based on the seal script form, Shuowen interprets the character as a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰluːm, *sʰluːms, *sloːm, *sʰrum, *srum): semantic 晶 (“stars”) + phonetic 㐱 (). However, according to the original form, this character is unrelated to 㐱.
From 三 (OC *suːm, *suːms, “three”) + other element (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

参
曑
叄
㕘
叅
参
蔘
*蓡
薓
*葠
叄
㕘
叅
参
叄
㕘
叅
𠫵
叁
叁
参
叄
㕘
叅
参
慘
䟃
参

Twenty-Eight Mansions
w:Twenty-Eight Mansions

(～宿) (Chinese astronomy) Three Stars mansion (one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions)


參

Related to Japhug tɤzrɤm (“root”), Yakkha साम (“root”) (Jacques, 2015b).

Short for 海參／海参 (hǎishēn, “sea cucumber”).


喻

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *los): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 俞 (OC *l̥ʰus, *lo).


冠

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kŋoːn, *kŋoːns) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): semantic 冖 (“hat”) + phonetic 元 (OC *ŋon, “head”) + semantic 寸 (“hand”) – a hand putting a hat on the head.
Earlier forms are phono-semantic (形聲／形声, OC *kŋoːn, *kŋoːns): semantic 冃 (“hat”) + phonetic 元 (OC *ŋon).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(g/k)wa-n (“to put on; to wear; to clothe”). Cognate with Tibetan བགོ (bgo, “to put on; to wear; clothing”), གོས (gos, “clothes; garments; dress”), གོན (gon), གྱོན (gyon, “to put on; to wear”), སྐོན (skon, “to dress; to clothe”).
Pronunciation 2 is the exopassive derivation of pronunciation 1, literally "(make someone to) be capped" (Schuessler, 2007).

cog

A son at twenty is capped, and receives his appellation.

男子二十冠而字。

(historical) ceremony marking a male's coming of age at 20

元服

奪冠

夺冠

(linguistics) Short for 冠詞／冠词 (guàncí, “article”).


囥

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 囗 (“enclosure”) + phonetic 亢 (OC *kaːŋ, *kʰaːŋs).
Compare Proto-Tai *k.raŋᴬ, whence Thai ขัง (kǎng, “to confine; to imprison”) (Manomaivibool, 1976).

cog

(Taiwanese and Philippine Hokkien) to keep; to put aside


噲

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰroːbs): semantic 口 + phonetic 會 (OC *koːbs, *ɡoːbs).


初

→ Vietnamese: xưa

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 衤 (“clothes”) + 刀 (“knife; to cut”) – start making clothes by cutting the cloth.
The various 𢀰-shaped glyphs are or are evolved from Zetian characters.

𥘉
𥝢
𠜆
𫢈
𢀯
𢀰
𡔈
䥚
𠫎
𣦂

四月初

民初


問

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mɯns): phonetic 門 (OC *mɯːn) + semantic 口.
Exoactive derivation of 聞 (OC *mɯn, “to hear”) with suffix *-s, literally "let (me) hear" (Schuessler, 2007). See there for more.

Han compound

to call to account; to hold to account; to take to task


嘆

(grammar) Short for 嘆詞／叹词 (tàncí, “interjection”).


呢

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *nil): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 尼 (OC *nil)
Ota (1987) suggests that the particle used in questions comes from 聻 (MC nriX) [Five Dynasties], a particle which may come from 爾 (MC nyeX, “that”), and that the particle used to indicate an action in progress comes from earlier 哩 [Yuan dynasty], which may come from 裏 (MC liX, “place”) [Tang dynasty–Five Dynasties].

Han compound

吶
膩
逆
爾
邇
le
年
哖

我們上漢語課呢。

我们上汉语课呢。

present continuous
present continuous#English

Sentence-final particle indicating continuation of an action or state, English present continuous. to be ...-ing


囚

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯³⁵/

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 囗 (“box, enclosure”) + 人 (“person”) – an enclosed person: confinement, prisoner. Similar but unrelated to 因. Unrelated to 𥁕.


圃

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *paːʔ, *paːs): semantic 囗 + phonetic 甫 (OC *paʔ).


力

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (力):
* → Japanese: 力(りき) (riki)
* → Korean: 력(力) (ryeok), 역(力) (yeok)
* → Vietnamese: lực (力)

→ Proto-Vietic: *k-rək

Muong: khấc

Vietnamese: sức

Characters in the same phonetic series (力) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – alternative interpretation, either an arm bending out from the side of the body, or a wooden plough. The original version was 𠠲 and the letter ㄌ in zhuyin alphabet was inspired by this character.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-ra (“strength; to win; classifier for people”) + *-k (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007). Cognate with Burmese အား (a:, “strength; force”); Proto-Loloish *ra² (“strength”), whence Nuosu ꊋ (we); Panyi Bai [script needed] (ɣɯ̱⁴², “strength”); Central Bai hhep (“strength”). A causative derivative is 飭 (OC rhək) (Schuessler, 2007).
Schuessler (2007) also suggests an etymological connection with 來 (OC *m·rɯːɡ, “to come”).

cog

能力

他對古董很有鑑賞力。

他对古董很有鉴赏力。


商

Cao Wei
Chen dynasty
Du Yu
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

Traditionally it is considered that 商人 (shāngrén) is so named because this term originally refers to people from Shang dynasty, who tend to do business.
From 賒 (OC *hljaː) plus terminative suffix *-ŋ (Schuessler, 2007). See there for further etymology.

謪
𠘾
𠹧
𠼬
𠾃
𠿧
𡂦
𡃬
𡄚
𡅟
𥫐
𧶜
𧷞
𨝗

Shāng means zhāng 'to expand'; the yin-fluid begins to expand [while] the yang-fuild begins to contract; ….

Ban Gu, The Comprehensive Discussions in the White Tiger Hall, 79 CE, translated based on Tjan Tjoe Som's version

Shāng zhě, zhāng yě, yīnqì kāi zhāng, yángqì shǐ jiàng yě;.......

商者，張也，陰氣開張，陽氣始降也；……。

商者，张也，阴气开张，阳气始降也；……。

(music) the second note in the Chinese pentatonic scale


合

Sino-Xenic (合):
* → Vietnamese: hợp (合)

Burmese language
Proto-Sino-Tibetan language

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 亼 + 口 (“mouth”) : Two mouths speaking together. See also 會.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *gap ~ kap. Compare 蓋 (OC *kaːbs, *kaːb, *ɡaːb, “to cover”) and 盍 (OC *ɡaːb, “to unite”) (STEDT). Outside of Sinitic, possibly cognate with Burmese ကပ် (kap, “to approach”).

Han compound

一公頃合十五市畝。

一公顷合十五市亩。

to add up to; to be equivalent to; to amount to

(Chinese phonetics) Short for 合口 (hékǒu, “closed-mouthed”).

(Xiamen Hokkien) Classifier for matching sets of instruments such as teaware.


反

STEDT compares it to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *par (“to trade; to buy; to sell”), from which Tibetan ཕར (phar, “interest (on money); exchange”) is derived.
Cognate with 販 (OC *pans, “to trade”), which is an exoactive of 反 (OC *panʔ, *pʰan, “to return, lit. to make someone return”) (Schuessler, 2007).
番 (OC *pʰan, “a turn; a time”) is the iterative of 反 (OC *panʔ, *pʰan).

och-l

肅反／肃反

Short for 反革命 (fǎngémìng, “counterrevolutionary”).


反

(phonetics) Short for 反切 (fǎnqiè, “fanqie”).


共

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (共):
* → Vietnamese: cộng (共)

→ Vietnamese: cùng

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 廾 (“two hands”) + 口 (“an object”) – holding up an object with two hands. Eventually 口 (not “mouth”) came to be written 廿 (niàn) (not “twenty”), which later fused with 廾 to form the modern 共.
Possibly the original form of 供 (“to provide; to offer”).
Possibly related to 廾 (OC *k(r)oŋʔ, “to fold the hands in front of the breast”), with the stativizing prefix *N- (Baxter and Sagart, 2014). Schuessler (2007) also relates this word to 供 (OC *kloŋ, *kloŋs, “to provide”) and suggests the possibility of also relating it to 恭 (OC *kloŋ, “to respect”) and 貢 (OC *koːŋs, “tribute”).
The kā reading in Hokkien is from the weakening of kāng (Wu, 2017; Chappell et al., 2011).

och-l

國共／国共

Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China

Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China

Short for 共產黨／共产党 (gòngchǎndǎng, “communist party”).

(specifically) the Communist Party of China


啤

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 口 (“mouth (phonetic)”) + phonetic 卑.
Borrowed from English beer. First attested in 1828, in Robert Morrison's Vocabulary of the Canton Dialect.


啜

/t͡syːt̚³⁻⁵/

/t͡syːt̚³⁻³⁵/

/t͡syːt̚³⁻⁵/

/t͡syːt̚³⁻³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tods, *djods, *tod, *tʰjod, *djod): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 叕 (OC *tod).
Possibly related to 噆 (OC *ʔsluːb, “(of a mosquito) to bite”) (Schuessler, 2007).

och-l

嚽
歠
𠼣
𡂜
𩟫
𠽶
涰
餟
諁

This cup of tea is too full. You have to take a sip before lifting it up.

bui¹ caa⁴ zam¹ dak¹ taai³ mun⁵ laa³, jiu³ zyut³ jat¹ daam⁶ sin¹ ling¹ dak¹ hei².

杯茶斟得太滿喇，要啜一啖先拎得起。

杯茶斟得太满喇，要啜一啖先拎得起。

Now that everyone else is drunk, why not taste a bit of those lees, or even take a sip of the diluted stuff?

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

Zhòngrén jiē zuì, hé bù bū qí zāo ér chuò qí lí?

眾人皆醉，何不餔其糟而啜其醨？

众人皆醉，何不𫗦其糟而啜其醨？

Since more than a hundred years, Manchu children have learned writing and painting and exchange poems to each other. The Mongols in their yurts deal with antique curios, burn incense, and sip on tea. The Japanese lecture the sciences, and are enthused by the nature of the human heart and the relationships between the cosmic principle and the vital force. This must be why the world is at peace.

《古芸堂筆記/고운당필기》, 1784

Baek yeo nyeon lae, Manju jaje hak seohwa, changsu sijang; Monggo jang jung wichi godong, bunhyang cheol cha; Waeja ganghak, yeol sim simseong rigi. Cha so'i man'guk taepyeong ya yeo.

百餘年來，滿洲子弟學書畫，唱酬詩章；蒙古帳中位置古董，焚香啜茶；倭子講學，說甚心性理氣。此所以萬國太平也歟。

(literary or dialectal) to taste; to eat; to drink; to sip


嗄

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sqʰraːs, *qraːds): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 夏 (OC *ɡraːʔ, *ɡraːs).


元

Cao Wei
Chen dynasty
Eastern Han dynasty
Eastern Wei
Eastern Wu
Eastern Zhou dynasty
Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
Garo language
Han dynasty
I Ching
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
Proto-Sino-Tibetan language
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
Tibetan language
Warring States period
Western Han dynasty
Western Liao
Western Wei
Western Xia
Western Zhou dynasty
Xia dynasty
Xianbei
Xin dynasty
Yuan dynasty
Zhou dynasty

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (元):
* → Korean: 원(元) (won)
* → Vietnamese: nguyên (元)

→ English: yuan

Pictogram (象形) – a figure with two lines 二 for a head (one connected to body, one above it), emphasizing the head.
Possibly from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m/s-gaw (“head”), with a noun-forming suffix *-n (Schuessler, 2003; STEDT). If so, cognate with 后 (OC *ɡoːʔ, “ruler; lord; queen”), Tibetan མགོ (mgo, “head; summit; beginning”), མགོན (mgon, “protector; master; lord”), Garo sko (“skull”), Northern Tujia kho⁵⁵ pa⁵⁵ (“head”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT). 原 (OC *ŋʷan, “source; origin; basic; primary”) and 黿 (OC *ŋoːn, *ŋon, “large turtle”) may be the same word (Schuessler, 2007). It may also be related to 君 (OC *klun, “lord; prince; ruler”), 尹 (OC *ɢʷlinʔ, “magistrate; governor”), 侯 (OC *ɡoː, “marquis”) (Mei, 1985).
The name of the dynasty comes from the I Ching:
:
Part of the people with this surname are Xianbei descendants. It was changed from 拓跋 (Tuòbá) as ordered by Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei.

och-l

Vast is the ‘great and originating (power)’ indicated by Qian! All things owe to it their beginning: - it contains all the meaning belonging to (the name) heaven.

I Ching, 11ᵗʰ – 8ᵗʰ century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Dà zāi qián yuán, wànwù zī shǐ, nǎi tǒng tiān.

大哉乾元，萬物資始，乃統天。

大哉干元，万物资始，乃统天。

(Taoism) kalpa, a cosmic or supreme cycle of 129,000 years

(Hong Kong) Short for 元朗 (Yuánlǎng, “Yuen Long”).


坵

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯⁵⁵/

劉榮昌, 種一蕊靚靚个花

俺个心肝肚有一坵田


其

Vietnamese: cơ

In the oracle bone script, it was originally 𠀠, a pictogram (象形) of a basket.
In the bronze inscriptions, 丌 was added under the basket to represent a stand. It may also have acted as a phonetic component. Hence, the modified version was 𠔝. See also the bottom component of 眞.
Later borrowed for an Old Chinese pronoun. The derivative 箕 (OC *kɯ) refers to the original word.
; third-person possessive pronoun
; modal particle "should; probably"

酈食其

郦食其


址

Characters in the same phonetic series (止) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kjɯʔ): semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 止 (OC *kjɯʔ).


同

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (同):
* → Japanese: 同(どう) (dō)
* → Korean: 동(同) (dong)
* → Vietnamese: đồng (同)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): A heavy dish (or, according to other interpretations, a bucket, pole or stretcher) 凡 that requires several people to lift and a mouth 口 commanding orders – cooperation; togetherness.
If the character represents a bucket, part of its original meaning is preserved in 筒 (OC *doːŋ, *doːŋs, “bucket”).
Perhaps related to Tibetan སྡོང་བ (sdong ba, “to unite; to join”), Mizo intawng (inᴸ-tɔŋᴴ, “to meet together; to tally; to agree”), Mizo intawn (inᴸ-tɔn^F, “to meet together; to tally; to agree”). Unrelated to 叢 (OC *zloːŋ, “to collect; thicket”) (Schuessler, 2007).

cog

to be the same as above (aforementioned)

同上

I bought a pack of rice and a can of soft drink.

ngo⁵ maai⁵ zo² jat¹ baau¹ mai⁵ tung⁴ jat¹ gun³ hei³ seoi².

我買咗一包米同一罐汽水。

我买咗一包米同一罐汽水。

Brazil and Argentina are both South American countries.

baa¹ sai¹ tung⁴ aa³ gan¹ ting⁴ dou¹ hai⁶ naam⁴ mei⁵ zau¹ gwok³ gaa¹.

巴西同阿根廷都係南美洲國家。

巴西同阿根廷都系南美洲国家。

同我攞杯水，唔該。

同我𫽋杯水，唔该。

你同我收聲！

你同我收声！

(Cantonese) Used in the form of 同我 in imperative sentences for emphasis.

給

used in imperative sentences for emphasis


嘯

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sɯːwɢs): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 肅 (OC *sɯwɢ).

Han compound

(Taoism) type of breathing exercise involving vocalizations


嚼

/t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵¹/

/t͡siɔk̚¹²¹/

/t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵¹/

/t͡siɔk̚¹²¹/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zewɢ): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 爵 (OC *ʔsewɢ).
Schuessler (2003) links this word with Proto-Mon-Khmer *caʔ (“to eat”). Also compare Proto-Sino-Tibetan *dzaʔ (“to eat”).

Han compound

𪚅
噍
𡁻
噭
𥬬
焦
啁

嚼口香糖

(transitive) to chew; to masticate; to crunch


呼

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qʰaː): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 乎 (OC *ɢaː) – to exhale, call, or shout from the mouth.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ʔaːw (“to shout, cry out”). Cognate with Burmese အော် (au, “to shout, berate”), as well as with the following Sinitic words (STEDT):
* 嚆 (“to make noise”)
* 嚎 (“to howl, bawl”)
* 呴 (OC *qʰoːʔ, *qʰos, “to breathe on, yawn, roar”)
* 呵 (OC *qʰaːl, *qʰaːls, “to shout, cry out”)

och-l

(Chinese phonetics) medial; in Middle Chinese: being open-mouthed (開口／开口) or closed-mouthed (合口), also called 開合／开合); or, for modern Chinese: one of four medials (四呼)


噴

Characters in the same phonetic series (奔) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰɯːn, *pʰɯːns, *pɯns): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 賁 (OC *prals, *bɯl, *pɯːn, *bɯn)
STEDT compares it to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *m/s-prat ~ *pran (“to sprinke; to spray”), whence Burmese ဖျန်း (hpyan:, “to spray, to sprinkle”). On the other hand, Schuessler (2007) compares it to Mizo phuh (“to blow out of the mouth”), Tibetan ཕུ་བ (phu ba, “to blow”).

cog

(colloquial, slang) to angrily rebuke or scold


坡

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰaːl): semantic 土 (“dirt”) + phonetic 皮 (OC *bral).

Han compound

坡幣

坡币

(Taiwan, Hong Kong) Short for 新加坡 (Xīnjiāpō, “Singapore”).

Used in transcription.
Short for 新加坡 (Xīnjiāpō, “Singapore”).


匙

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *dje): phonetic 是 (OC *djeʔ) + semantic 匕 (“spoon”).


困

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 囗 (“surround”) + 木 (“wood”). Probably the original form of 梱 (OC *ŋɡuːn, *kʰuːnʔ, “doorsill”) and 閫 (OC *kʰuːnʔ, “doorsill”).


坯

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰɯː): semantic 土 + phonetic 丕 (OC *pʰrɯ).

Han compound

(figurative) unfinished or semifinished product


固

Characters in the same phonetic series (古) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kaːs): semantic 囗 + phonetic 古 (OC *kaːʔ).
STEDT compares it to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-ka (“earth; ground; soil”). Compare Jingpho ga (“earth”), Garo ha (“earth”).

inh

穩固

稳固

加固

Rúshì, zé bīng jìn chéng gù, díguó wèi zhī.

如是，則兵勁城固，敵國畏之。

如是，则兵劲城固，敌国畏之。


圭

Pictogram (象形): 士 + 士 – two ritual axes, perhaps made of jade, one on top of the other. Duplication of 士. Stylized into but unrelated to 土; according to folk etymologies, it's a reduplication of the character 土.

See also: 珪

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


埤

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *be): semantic 土 (“dirt”) + phonetic 卑 (OC *pe)

Han compound

埤頭

埤头

(geography) water reservoir used in irrigation


圍

→ Vietnamese: vây (“to encircle”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷɯl, *ɢʷɯls) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): semantic 囗 (“enclosure”) + phonetic 韋 (OC *ɢʷɯl, “to surround”).

Han compound

Kat Hing Wai (a walled village in Yuen Long, Hong Kong)

吉慶圍

吉庆围

(often in Guangdong and Hong Kong place names) walled village (Classifier: 條／条 c)

(Cantonese) Classifier for number of tables at a restaurant or a feast. (usually twelve people per table)

(Cantonese) to tally; to calculate (an amount)


咱

→ Vietnamese: ta

Fusion of 自家 (MC dzijH kae, “self”) [Song] > Modern Mandarin zá (Lü, 1984). Fusion with 們／们 (men) produces the form with a nasal coda [Yuan], e.g. Modern Mandarin zán (Norman, 1988).

喒
偺
𠴰
倃
俺
㑑
玌

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

(literary) A particle used after personal pronouns.


吾

Characters in the same phonetic series (五) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋraː, *ŋaː): phonetic 五 (OC *ŋaːʔ) + semantic 口 (“mouth”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ŋa-j ~ ka (“I”). Cognate with Burmese ငါ (nga, “I”), 我 (OC *ŋaːlʔ, “I”), Hakka 𠊎 (ngài, “I”).


出

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 止 (“foot”) + 凵 (“cave”) – to step out of a cave; to exit. Compare 各.
By the Qin dynasty, the character has lost its original shape. Based on the distorted form, Shuowen mistakenly interprets the character as a pictogram (象形) of a plant (屮) growing outwards.
STEDT derives this word from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-twak (“to come or go out; to emerge”); compare Burmese ထွက် (htwak, “to go or come out; to produce or yield; to leave”), Proto-Lolo-Burmese *ʔ-twakᴴ (“to come or got out; to emerge”), Proto-Kuki-Chin *tshuak-I, *tshuaʔ-II (“to come out; to emerge; to appear”). The -t final may be particular to Chinese.
Alternatively, Sagart (1999) and Baxter and Sagart (2014) suggest that this word is related to other words that express extraction, such as 掘 (OC *[ɡ]ut, “to dig out”), and reconstruct the Old Chinese with an intransitivizing prefix *t-.

cog

出席

出場／出场


哪

/ⁿdai²¹⁻²¹⁵/

/ⁿdai²¹⁻²¹⁵/

Written as 那 before the 20th century.
It is generally considered to be the fusion of 奈何 (OC *naːls ɡaːl, “how”) (Wang, 1990; Sun, 1992; Shimura, 1995), usually citing Gu Yanwu's (顧炎武) commentary on Zuozhuan. Lü (1985) distinguishes between “which” (choosing among several choices), which he derives from 若 (OC *njaɡ), and “how” (asking for something), which he considers to be a fusion of 若何 (OC *njaɡ ɡaːl, “how”).

他哪像個學生。

他哪像个学生。

我哪知道。

哪會按呢？

哪会按呢？

(rhetorical question) how (used in rhetorical questions)


啞

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qraːʔ, *qraːɡs, *qraːɡ, *qraːɡ): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 亞 (OC *qraːɡs).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-ʔa (“mute”).

Han compound

啞劇

哑剧

啞鈴

哑铃

啞口無言

哑口无言

(of a shell, bomb, etc.) to fail to explode; (of a firearm) to fail to fire


品

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (品):
* → Japanese: 品(ひん) (hin); 品(ほん) (hon)
* → Korean: 품(品) (pum)
* → Vietnamese: phẩm (品)

→ Vietnamese: phím (“fret; key”)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): Triplication of 口, representing various objects. Also occurs in 區.


儂

Cantonese: 冷 (laang⁵⁻¹) (via Teochew)

Baiyue
Changshu
Fenghua
Fuding
Lanxi
Longyan
Ningbo
Nong Zhigao
Nùng
Shanghai
Shanghainese
Shengze
Six Dynasties
Suzhou
Tangxi
Xiamen
Xianyou
Yuyao

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *nuːŋ): semantic 亻 + phonetic 農 (OC *nuːŋ).
; “Person; I; me > suffix for pronouns” in southeastern varieties
Its senses of “person; human being” and “pronoun suffix” are well-attested in the classical literature, dating back to the Six Dynasties. At the present time, traces of this word are found in various Southern regions such as Fujian, Jiangxi and Zhejiang, in Wu, Min, Hui and Gan.
; “Person; human”
; “I”
; “Pronoun suffix”
:
: A similar chain of changes happened in the Wu varieties to arrive at the modern divergent dialectal forms for “you (singular)”.
:
: Some lects, such as Shanghainese, have merged the two syllables into one, leaving 儂／侬 to mean “you (singular)”.
With regard to the etymology of this word, Huang (1980), Norman (1983) and Zhou (1986) hypothesised that this is the same as 農 (OC *nuːŋ, “farmer; peasant”). The use of this word as a pronoun may have originated as a form of personal deprecation and then come to be used as a full-fledged pronoun. Pan and Chen (1995) disagree, proposing that nong was originally a Baiyue substrate word possibly of Kra-Dai origin, and possibly an original clan name later developing to mean “person; I”. Compare Zhuang Nungz (surname) and name of the 11ᵗʰ century Zhuang leader Nong Zhigao, as well as the name of the Nùng people in Vietnam.


埠

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *baːs): semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 阜 (OC *buʔ).
A late formation (後起字). Earlier forms of southern Chinese toponyms using the character were often written with the homophone 步 (MC buH) in historical records dated from the Northern Wei to Ming dynasties, which has been conjectured to be a transcription of an earlier Kra-Dai word (Kang, 2010). Cf. 墟 (xū, “market”).


埕

(chiefly Min) yard; level open ground (for grain drying, threshing, salt production or freshwater aquaculture)


卵

Pictogram (象形) – spawn, egg.
Usually thought of as derived from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-row (“egg, nit”) with nominalizing suffix *‑n; compare Tibetan སྲོ་མ (sro ma, “egg of a louse, nit, small bubble”) (Benedict, 1976; Gong, 1995; Schuessler, 2007; STEDT).
Alternatively, STEDT compares it to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(r/l)um (“egg”), while noting a few phonological problems with the comparison.
Sagart and Ma (2020) propose that it may be related to 果 (OC *kloːlʔ, “fruit”).

cog

1808, 沈復 (Shen Fu), 《浮生六記》 (Six Records of a Floating Life), 卷二 閒情記趣 (Chapter 2: The Little Pleasures of Life)

Tān cǐ shēngyá, luǎn wéi qiūyǐn suǒ hā (Wú súchēng yáng yuē luǎn) , zhǒng bùnéng biàn.

貪此生涯，卵為蚯蚓所哈（吳俗稱陽曰卵），腫不能便。

贪此生涯，卵为蚯蚓所哈（吴俗称阳曰卵），肿不能便。

(regional) penis; male genitals; scrotum


囝

/t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴/

Ideogram (指事): 囗 + 子 (“child; son”). Compare 囡.
Min dialectal word for “son; child”. Substrate borrowing, cognate with Proto-Mon-Khmer *kuun (“child, son”) (Vietnamese con, Khmer កូន (koun)) (Schuessler, 2007). Likely related to 昆 (OC *kuːn, “descendants”) (ibid.).

Diminutive suffix attached to classifiers.


包

Sino-Xenic (包):
* → Vietnamese: bao (包)

→ English: bao, bau, bow, pao, pau

⇒ Khmer: នំប៉ាវ (num paaw)

⇒ Lao: ກະລາເປົ໋າ (ka lā pao)

→ Malay: pau

⇒ Thai: ซาลาเปา (saa-laa-bpao)

Pictogram (象形) – a fetus (巳 (sì)) in the womb (勹), or a swaddled baby. Shuowen gives both interpretations.

(Malaysia, Singapore, slang) Short for 打包 (dǎbāo, “to take away (food)”).

Alternative form: 飽／饱

叉燒包／叉烧包 ― chāshāobāo ― char siu bao

小籠包／小笼包 ― xiǎolóngbāo ― xiaolongbao

Alternative form: 飽／饱

麵包／面包

漢堡包／汉堡包

Eating bread guarantees you to feel full

食包包食飽

食包包食饱

(food) bun; bread (any small baked good)


喪

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (喪):
* → Japanese: 喪(そう) (sō)
* → Korean: 상(喪) (sang)
* → Vietnamese: tang (喪)

Originally ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *smaːŋs, *smaːŋ): phonetic 桑 (OC *sŋaːŋ, “mulberry tree”) + semantic 㗊 (“many mouths”). The number of mouths frequently varied. Sometimes 走 (“run”) was included as a semantic component, and later 亡 (OC *maŋ, “die”) was added as a phonetic (and also possibly semantic) component.
In the seal script became ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *smaːŋs, *smaːŋ): semantic 哭 (“cry”) + phonetic 亡 (OC *maŋ, “die”), from which the modern form derives.
Compare 咢 and 噩, which may be derived from or originally the same character as 喪.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ma (“not”). Cognate with 亡 (OC *maŋ, “to disappear”). The level-toned pronunciation has a nominal prefix *s-, lit. "circumstances associated with disappearance (death)", whereas the departing-toned pronunciation has a formally identical causative prefix *s- and an exoactive suffix *-s, lit. "to cause to disappear".

Han compound

丧
䘮
𠸶
𠷔
𡂤
𡂧
𡴧
𦦦
𡚏
𦦭
𦱺


古

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (古):
* → Japanese: 古(こ) (ko)
* → Korean: 고(古) (go)
* → Vietnamese: cổ (古)

→ Vietnamese: cũ

Ideogram (指事): A shield (十, contraction of 盾 and similar but unrelated to 中) and the radical of the mouth (口) both as a distinguishing mark and as a component that partly indicates pronunciation. Together, they indicate the concept of "strong, firm" (as strong as a shield); original form of 固 (OC *kaːs) (Qiu Xigui, Ding Shan 丁山). Later, the meaning of "solid, firm" shifted to "antiquity" for unclear reasons. Compare oracle bone forms with 干, 盾. Unrelated to 中 and hence to 史 and 使.
Fang (1982) finds evidence for the 十 component originally being a depiction of a piece of food and the character originally being a depiction of someone spitting out a piece of food due to his bad taste. Thus, Fang argues this character is the original form of 苦 (kǔ), "bitter".
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-ga (“old”). Cognate with 故 (OC *kaːs, “old things; former; dead”) and Tibetan རྒ (rga, “to be old; aged”).

och-l

古今


塍

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɦljɯŋ): phonetic 朕 (OC *l'ɯmʔ) + semantic 土.


堯

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋeːw): phonetic 垚 (OC *ŋeːw) + semantic 兀 (“towering and bald”). Also an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 垚 (“tall (of earth)”) + 兀 (“towering and bald”).
The oracle bone script consists of two 土 (“soil; earth”) at the top and a kneeling man stylized as 兀 at the bottom.

Han compound

Emperor Yao, legendary ruler of ancient China

(Mainland China) yotta- (SI unit prefix)


命

Characters in the same phonetic series (令) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mreŋs): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 令 (OC *ren, *reŋ, *reŋs, *reːŋ, *reːŋs). Doublet of 呤 (OC *reːŋ).
Related to 令 (OC *ren, *reŋ, *reŋs, *reːŋ, *reːŋs, “to order; to command; order”) (Wang, 1982). Both may be derived from 名 (OC *meŋ, “name”): “name” (名) > “to name; to give (a name to)” (命) > “to order; to command” > “order; command” > “destiny; fate; lot” > “life” (Schuessler, 2007).


喜

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 壴 (“drum”) + 口 (“mouth”). It represents joy through playing the drum and singing cheerfully.
Duplicated character: 囍.


圖

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 囗 (“walled city”) + 啚.
啚 is the early form of 鄙 (OC *prɯʔ, “remote areas”), thus meaning “territory”.
Related to 度 (OC *daːɡs, *daːɡ, “degree, measure”); see there for more (STEDT).

图
圗
啚
𠚎
𡇴
𡈇
𡈖
𧖳
𡇩
𡇫


味

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (味):
* → Japanese: 味(み) (mi)
* → Korean: 미(味) (mi)
* → Vietnamese: vị (味)

desc

→ Proto-Hmong-Mien: *hmeiᴴ (“taste; to try”)

→ Vietnamese: mùi (“smell”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mɯds): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 未 (OC *mɯds).
Schuessler (2007) compared this word with Proto-Monic *[ʔ]məp (“good tasting, have a pleasant flavour, be pleasant”) > Mon မိပ် (mìp, “to be happy, to enjoy”). Unger (1992) connects this with Tibetan བྲོད (brod) (< བྲོ (bro, “to taste”)). Also compare Korean 맛 (mat, “taste”), 멋 (meot, “taste; charm”).

Han compound

品味


團

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (團):
* → Vietnamese: đoàn (團)

→ Lü: ᦒᦸᧃᧉ (thoan²)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *doːn): semantic 囗 + phonetic 專 (OC *tjon).

Han compound

(Communist Youth) League Faction (Hu Jintao's faction)

團派

团派

(Mainland China) Short for 共青團／共青团 (gòngqīngtuán, “Communist Youth League”).


墘

墘 (Kangxi radical 32, 土+11, 14 strokes, cangjie input 土十十弓 (GJJN), four-corner 4811₇, composition ⿰土乾)


句

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *koː, *koːs, *kos, *ɡo): semantic 丩 (“to entangle”) + phonetic 口 (OC *kʰoːʔ), which may represent the tip of a big nail.
The 丩 component, originally two entangled ropes, now resembles the unrelated 勹.

Han compound

(Cantonese; formal in Hong Kong) Classifier for hours.


坑

In its current form, a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰraːŋ): phonetic 亢 (OC *kaːŋ, *kʰaːŋs) + semantic 土 (“soil”). Early forms appear to be 阬.
Possibly related to 空 (OC *kʰoːŋ, *kʰoːŋs, “empty; space; air”), though the function of the *-r- in the Old Chinese reconstruction is unclear and its presence thus problematic (STEDT).

och-l

泥坑

隕石坑

陨石坑

礦坑

矿坑

(dialectal, including Cantonese) ditch; trench (Classifier: 條／条 c)

(Hakka) small stream; creek; brook (Classifier: 條／条 h)

to burn books and bury Confucian scholars alive

焚書坑儒

焚书坑儒


坦

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tʰaːnʔ): semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 旦 (OC *taːns)

Han compound

坦白

杜甫 (Du Fu) 《江亭》

Tǎn fù jiāng tíng nuǎn, cháng yín yě wàng shí.

坦腹江亭暖，長吟野望時。

杜甫 (Du Fu) 《江亭》

坦腹江亭暖，长吟野望时。


型

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡeːŋ): phonetic 刑 (OC *ɡeːŋ) + semantic 土 (“earth”) – an earthen mold, hence form, pattern.


周

desc

→ English: Zhou, Chou, Chow, Chau, Chew, Chiu

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)
King Wen of Zhou
Liang dynasty
Liao dynasty
Liu Song dynasty
Middle Chinese
Ming dynasty
Northern Qi
Northern Wei
Northern Zhou
Northern and Southern dynasties
Old Chinese
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

;to encircle, to circle, to surround, everywhere, curve (in the road)
;to help
:Alternatively, note Khmer ជួយ (cuəy, “to help, assist; to support; to rescue, save”) (ibid.). Even so, also note Thai ช่วย (chûai), which in turn is from Middle Chinese 助 (MC dzrjoH)); if Khmer ជួយ (cuəy) and Thai ช่วย (chûai) were related, then Khmer ជួយ (cuəy) cannot be related to Old Chinese 周 (OC *tjɯw).
;dynasty's name
:A 周方白 (Zhōufāng bó, “Elder of Zhou region”), likely King Wen of Zhou, was mentioned in Oracle Bone Inscriptions H11:82 and H11:84 (Lin, 1995)
:Hargett (2021) states that 商 (Shāng) and 周 (Zhōu) derived from names of "places that the rulers and people of those eras regarded as their homeland or cultic centers"; the 周方 (Zhōufāng, “Zhou region”) was among "areas or regions along the frontier borders of Shang, traditionally regarded as enemy territory".

cog

𠕛
𠱬
𠄗
𠕛
𠣘
淍
週
舟
州

Northern Zhou (557—581), one of the Northern dynasties in China

Wu Zhou (690–705), established by Wu Zetian

Later Zhou (951–960), one of the Five Dynasties in China


墟

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰa): semantic 土 (“dirt”) + phonetic 虛 (OC *kʰa, *qʰa).
;"ruin"
;"market"

Han compound

Yinxu (ruins of the last capital of the Shang dynasty)

殷墟


墜

/ʈ͡ʂu̯eɪ̯⁵¹/

/ʈ͡ʂu̯eɪ̯⁵¹/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'uds): phonetic 隊 (OC *l'uːds) + semantic 土.

Han compound

to fall down; to drop; to sink; to go to ruin


塑

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sŋaːɡs): phonetic 朔 (OC *sŋraːɡ) + semantic 土 (“earth”).

Han compound

May you mould my character, may you take control of my intentions, so that I may love mercy and justice and walk with you always.

2007, 余遠淳 (Yenn Chwen Er), 懇求聖靈來 (May Your Spirit Come)

Qiú nǐ sù wǒ gèxìng, qiú nǐ xùn wǒ xīnyì, ràng wǒ hào liánmǐn gōngyì, shíshí yǔ nǐ tóngxíng.

求你塑我個性，求你馴我心意，讓我好憐憫公義，時時與你同行。

求你塑我个性，求你驯我心意，让我好怜悯公义，时时与你同行。


塘

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'aːŋ): semantic 土 (“dirt”) + phonetic 唐 (OC *ɡl'aːŋ).

Han compound

魚塘／鱼塘


壩

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *praːɡs): semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 霸 (OC *praːɡs).

Han compound

beach (sandy, on a river, lake or coast, used chiefly in place names)


嘴

/t͡su̯eɪ̯²¹⁴/

/t͡su̯əɻ²¹⁴/

/t͡su̯eɪ̯²¹⁴/

/t͡su̯əɻ²¹⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔseʔ): semantic 口 + phonetic 觜 (OC *ʔse, *ʔse, *ʔseʔ).
Related to 觜 (OC *ʔse, *ʔse, *ʔseʔ, “horn-like hair on the owl-head; beak of a bird; mouth”).
Further etymology is unknown. Schuessler (2007) relates it to Tibetan མཚུལ་པ (mtshul pa, “lower part of the face; muzzle; beak”), which is from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-ts(j)ul (“lip; beak”) (STEDT).

inh

(anatomy) mouth (especially the part of the face associated with the mouth) (Classifier: 張／张 m)

(figurative) utterance; spoken words; speech

嘴佢！嘴佢！


囊

Characters in the same phonetic series (襄) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) – a tied bag (𣒚), with various items in it (𤕦). 𤕦 also serves as a phonetic element. There are many alternative forms. In the modern, standard form, the bottom turned into an abbreviated form of 襄, with the result that the character is a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *naːŋ): abbreviated semantic 㯻 (“bag”) + abbreviated phonetic 襄 (OC *snaŋ).
Possibly Sino-Tibetan; compare Burmese နွှင် (hnwang, “to skin; to peel off”) (Schuessler, 2007).

cog

𬺿
嚢
𡄜
𢑿
𣡦
𣡪
𧛦
𣡏
廊


均

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʷin): semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 匀 (OC *ɢʷin).

Han compound

All candidates have entered the examination venue.

所有考生均已進入考場。

所有考生均已进入考场。


喉

→ Proto-Tai: *ɣoːᴬ

Ahom: 𑜁𑜦𑜡 (khō) or 𑜁𑜞𑜦𑜡 (khrō)

Lao: ຄໍ (khǭ)

Saek: กฺ๊อ

Shan: ၶေႃး (kháu)

Thai: คอ (kɔɔ)

Zhuang: hoz

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡoː): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 侯 (OC *ɡoː).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ku (“neck; throat”) (STEDT); compare Chepang गुक् (“throat”) (Schuessler, 2007). Also compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *kɔʔ (“neck”), whence Mon ကံ (kaʹ, “neck”), Khmer ក (kɑɑ, “neck”), Vietnamese cổ (“neck”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

(Cantonese) pipe; duct; hose; tube (Classifier: 條／条 c)


堆

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tuːl): semantic 土 + phonetic 隹 (OC *tjul).
Schuessler (2007) takes its first appearance in Chu Ci as suggestive of foreign origin. Possibly related to:
* Proto-Tai *C̥.doːjᴬ (“mountain”) (whence Thai ดอย (dɔɔi), Saek [script needed] (rɔ:jᴬ¹), Zhuang ndoi)
* Proto-Hmong-Mien *glaɨᴰ (“mountain”), or
* Austroasiatic, e.g. Middle Mon [script needed] (duiw, “hill, hilltop”)
Possibly connected with 屯 (OC *duːn).

cog

堆分配


日

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (日):
* → Japanese: 日(にち) (nichi); 日(じつ) (jitsu)
* → Okinawan: 日(なち) (nachi); 日(にち) (nichi)
* → Korean: 일(日) (il)
* → Vietnamese: nhật (日)

/ᵑɡit̚²¹⁻²¹⁵/

/ᵑɡit̚²¹⁻²¹⁵/

Characters in the same phonetic series (日) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – the Sun. A dot or line was added in the centre to distinguish it from visually similar characters, e.g. 囗 (early form of 丁). Compare earlier forms of the character with the astronomical and astrological symbol for the Sun (☉) and the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓇳.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-nəj. Cognate to Tibetan ཉི་མ (nyi ma, “sun, day”), Burmese နေ (ne, “sun”) or Burmese နေ့ (ne., “day”), S'gaw Karen နံၤ (nĩ, “day”), and Nuosu ꑍ (nyip, “day, daytime”).

Han etyl

囸
𡆠
𡇁
𡆸
𡇗
𡈎
入
㒲
肏

(～母) (Chinese linguistics) the Middle Chinese initial of 日 (MC nyit)


妤

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *la): semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 予 (OC *la, *laʔ).


員

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): a 〇 indicating the top edge of a 鼎 (“ding”) - round.


唐

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

→ English: Tang, T'ang, Tong, Tng

desc

→ Proto-Southwestern Tai: *daːŋᴬ² (“road; way”)

Northern Thai: ᨴᩤ᩠ᨦ

Khün: ᨴᩤ᩠ᨦ

Lao: ທາງ (thāng)

Lü: ᦑᦱᧂ (taang)

Tai Dam: ꪕꪱꪉ

Shan: တၢင်း (táang)

Tai Nüa: ᥖᥣᥒᥰ (täang)

Ahom: 𑜄𑜂𑜫 (taṅ)

Thai: ทาง (taang, “road; way”)

→ Thai: ถัง (tǎng, “Tang (dynasty)”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡl'aːŋ): phonetic 庚 (OC *kraːŋ) + semantic 口 (“mouth”) – to exaggerate, to boast. 唐 and 庚 were near-homophones in Old Chinese.
Either related to 途 (OC *l'aː) (Wang, 1982) or from Austroasiatic, compare Proto-Austroasiatic *glɔːŋ, whence Mon ဂၠံၚ်, Kensiu gəlɔŋ, Kuy khlù:aŋ (Schuessler, 2007).


塚

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *toŋʔ): semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 冢 (OC *toŋʔ) – an earthen mound, a tomb of earth.


堅

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kiːn): phonetic 臤 (OC *kʰaːn, *kʰriːn, *ɡiːn, *kʰins) + semantic 土.

Han compound

72nd tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "hardness" (𝍍)


嚇

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qʰraːɡs, *qʰraːɡ): semantic 口 + phonetic 赫 (OC *qʰraːɡ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s/d-krwak (“frighten”) (STEDT). Cognate with Tibetan སྐྲག་ (skrag), Burmese ကြောက် (krauk), Lashi kyuk (Hill, 2019).

Han compound

That's right, who you're talking about is precisely me.

嚇，你講的著是我。

吓，你讲的著是我。

(Hokkien) Used to express a positive response: that's right; right


妍

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋeːn): semantic 女 + phonetic 幵 (OC *kŋeːn).

Han compound

(literary) bright, colorful and beautiful


分

desc

→ Thai: หุน (hǔn, “a unit of length and weight”)

→ Zhuang: faen

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 八 (“to separate”) + 刀 (“knife”) – to separate with a knife.

Han compound

Obsolete. 皮 is used for SI prefix pico-.

分鐘／分钟

現在是7點45分。

现在是7点45分。

(historical) an ancient small unit of time


喝

(Zhangzhou Hokkien, Teochew) to brag; to boast; to bluff


墅

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɦljaːʔ): phonetic 野 (OC *laːʔ, *ɦljaʔ) + semantic 土.


右

Burmese language
Jingpho language
Proto-Sino-Tibetan language
Tibetan language

Originally 又 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “right hand”) in the oracle bone script.
In bronze inscriptions, a 口 (“mouth; speech”) component was added, perhaps with the intention of indicating the use of 又 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “again”) as a phonetic loan. In other words, the current form is a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷɯʔ, *ɢʷɯs) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): phonetic 又 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “right hand”) + semantic 口.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-(j/r)a (“right (hand)”) (STEDT). Cognate with Tibetan གཡས (g.yas, “right”), Jingpho hkra (khʒa⁵⁵, “right”), Burmese ယာ (ya), ညာ (nya).
友 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ, “be friendly; friend”) is the endoactive derivation of 右 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ) (Schuessler, 2007).
佑 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “to aid”), 祐 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “(of divinity) to assist; to bless”), 宥 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “to pardon; magnanimous”) are exoactive derivations of 右 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ) (ibid.).
; “(politics) right-wing”

liushu

OC *ɢʷɯʔ, *ɢʷɯs

och-l

右 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ)

右 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ)

右美沙芬


墿

(Northern Min, Eastern Min, Central Min, Puxian Min) road


唯

Sino-Xenic (唯):
* → Vietnamese: duy (唯)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷi, *ɢʷiʔ): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 隹.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *way (“be, copula, nominalizer, subordinator”); cognate with Proto-Lolo-Burmese *wəy (“to be”) > Proto-Loloish *ʔ-way²/³ (> Luquan ve³³ ~ ve⁵⁵ ("subordinator, final particle"), Lahu ve (“nominalizer; relativizer; genitivizer”), Akha ø ~ ø̀ (“subordinator; citation-form marker; terminator of utterances in declarative mood”)), Mizo ve (“also, too, as well”), Jingpho we (“present tense particle”), and possibly Tibetan ཡིན (yin, “to be”) < *wi-n (with earlier w- disappearing before -i).(STEDT; Schuessler, 2007).
Related to 惠 (OC *ɢʷiːds) (Schuessler, 2007)

cog

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

維天有漢。

维天有汉。

In the ninth month, the King was in Zongzhou, and ordered this vessel.

Wéi jiǔ yuè, wáng zài zōng zhōu, mìng yú.

唯九月，王在宗周，命盂。

(alt. form 維／维, 惟) An introductory particle marking noun phrases as the topic


喬

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡ɕi̯ɒu̯¹³/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡ɕi̯ɒu̯¹³/

Ideogram (指事) – a differentiated form (分化字) of 高 (OC *kaːw, “high, tall”), with a differentiating marker, which was variously a stroke, 屮, 止, 力, 九, or 夭.
Based on the 夭 form, only attested starting from the Han dynasty (Chi, 2010), Shuowen erroneously interprets 夭 as a semantic component meaning “to bend” and treats the character as a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声).
Cognate with 憍 (OC *krew, “to lift the head”), 驕 (OC *krew, “proud”), 撟 (OC *krewʔ, “to lift”), 嶠 (OC *ɡrews, “peak”); 高 (OC *kaːw, “high; tall”) and 蹻 (OC *krewʔ, “martial; vigorous”) could be allofams (Schuessler, 2007).
Sagart (2017b) compares this word to Tibetan སྒྲོ (sgro, “to elevate; to exalt; to increase”) and Jingpho shagrau (“to exalt”). He also considers 鷮 (OC *krew, *ɡrew, “a kind of pheasant (with a long tail and feathers used for ornaments)”) to be related, comparing it to Tibetan སྒྲོ (sgro, “large feather”), which he suggests is derived from the verb.

och-l

乔
𠳮
乔
乔
乔
乔
挾
蹻
乔
乔


培

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *boːʔ, *bɯː): semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 咅 (OC *pʰɯʔ, *pʰl'oːs).

Han compound

(agriculture) to hill up; to earth up; to bank up


域

Characters in the same phonetic series (或) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷrɯɡ): semantic 土 + phonetic 或 (OC *ɡʷɯːɡ).
國 (OC *kʷɯːɡ, “state”) is the k-prefix derivation of 域 (OC *ɢʷrɯɡ, “territory”) (Schuessler, 2007). See 國 for more.

Han compound

域名


光

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (光):
* → Japanese: 光(こう) (kō)
* → Korean: 광(光) (gwang)
* → Vietnamese: quang (光)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 火 (“fire”) + 卩 (“kneeling person”) – fire over a person's head, emphasizing the shining of light (Shuowen).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *hwaŋ (“shine; bright; yellow”). Cognate with 黃 (OC *ɡʷaːŋ, “yellow”), 曠 (OC *kʰʷaːŋs, “bright; well-lit”), Burmese ဝင်း (wang:, “bright”).

inh

㫕
灮
炗
炚
炛
烡
𠈑
𤉭
𤎫
𤐥
𰭧

光明

呢度好光。

這間房間真光。

这间房间真光。


埔

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 甫.


增

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsɯːŋ, *ʔsɯːŋs): semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 曾 (OC *ʔsɯːŋ, *zɯːŋ) – things grow in the earth, to build from earth.
The Baxter and Sagart (2014) reconstruction of this word is *s-tˤəŋ, suggesting the word is derived from 登 (OC *tˤəŋ, “to go up”) by *s- prefixing.

liushu

OC *ʔsɯːŋ, *ʔsɯːŋs

Han compound

増
曾
⿰土⿳丷囚曰
𢴣
⿰土⿳⺈田曰

13th tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "expansion; growth" (𝌒)


器

CJKV/code

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

desc

Korean: 그릇 (geureut, “receptacle; bowl; capacity; tolerance”) (Pan, 2006)

Uncertain.
The classical interpretation is an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): a 犬 (“dog”) guarding four 口 (“vessels”).
It might also be a phonetically borrowed character, originally meaning “to bark” (Compare 狺).
Another theory states the character is derived from 喪 (“mourning”). (Compare 噩, 哭 , 咢). Borrowed not for sound but as an ideogram (指事) referring to a funerary urn.

噐
𡄛
𦈯
𠾖
⿳吅一吅
⿳吅大𫩏
⿳𫩏大吅
⿳吅亠吅
⿳吅二吅
⿻㗊十
⿳吅太吅
⿳吅夭吅
𦈯
⿱吅𦈢

[idiom] A great talent takes time to mature.

大器晚成

The Master said, "The superior man is easy to serve and difficult to please. If you try to please him in any way which is not accordant with right, he will not be pleased. But in his employment of men, he uses them according to their capacity / ability. The mean man is difficult to serve, and easy to please. If you try to please him, though it be in a way which is not accordant with right, he may be pleased. But in his employment of men, he wishes them to be equally competent to everything."

The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE

Zǐyuē: “Jūnzǐ yì shì ér nán yuè yě: yuè zhī bù yǐ dào, bù yuè yě; jí qí shǐ rén yě, qì zhī. Xiǎorén nán shì ér yì yuè yě: yuè zhī suī bù yǐ dào, yuè yě; jí qí shǐ rén yě, qiú bèi yān.”

子曰：「君子易事而難說也：說之不以道，不說也；及其使人也，器之。小人難事而易說也：說之雖不以道，說也；及其使人也，求備焉。」

子曰：「君子易事而难说也：说之不以道，不说也；及其使人也，器之。小人难事而易说也：说之虽不以道，说也；及其使人也，求备焉。」


妨

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰaŋ, *pʰaŋs): semantic 女 + phonetic 方 (OC *paŋ, *baŋ). 方 also once bore the now-obsolete meaning of "take up" (space), which can explain the meaning of this character as being "to obstruct someone from approaching a woman".

Han compound

(often in the negative) to harm; to damage


娟

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qʷen): semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 肙 (OC *qʷeːns).


因

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (因):
* → Japanese: 因(いん) (in)
* → Korean: 인(因) (in)
* → Vietnamese: nhân (因)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 囗 (“sheet”) + 大 (“person”) – man on a mattress. Original form of 裀 (OC *qin, “mat; layered garment”) or 茵 (OC *qin, “mattress; cushion”).
Alternatively, possibly an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) of a man wearing clothing.

Han compound

It is beneath ourselves to attack a person because of his merit. We had better, as a matter of convenience, treat him with goodwill.

Jīn rén yǒu dàgōng ér jīzhī, bùyì yě, bùrú yīn shàn yùzhī.

今人有大功而擊之，不義也，不如因善遇之。

今人有大功而击之，不义也，不如因善遇之。

(archaic) conveniently; in passing; expediently


奮

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 奞 (“bird”) + 田 (“field”) – bird spreading its wings to fly.
Related to 翂 (OC *pɯn, “appearance of birds flying slowly”) and 飛 (OC *pɯl, “to fly”).


上

/t͡sʰuɔŋ²⁴²/

/t͡sʰuɔŋ²⁴²/

Ideogram (指事): a line above another (contrast 下 (xià)) — up. Originally written as 𠄞, but changed to this form to prevent confusion with 二 (èr).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-tjaŋ (“top”). Cognate with Tibetan སྟེང (steng), Tibetan ཡང་རྩེ (yang rtse, “summit; pinnacle”) (Bodman, 1980), Mizo zo (“to be high”), zah (“to respect; to revere”) (STEDT).
Shijing rimes indicate occasional level tone for pronunciation 2 (Schuessler, 2007).
Pronunciation 1 is the exopassive of pronunciation 2 with suffix *-s, literally meaning "what has been raised" (Schuessler, 2007). The rising tone in Middle Chinese words with voiced stop initials regularly evolves into departing tone in Mandarin. Pronunciation 3 results from 叶韻 (xiéyùn), i.e. its pronunciation has been artificially changed to preserve rhymes in classical poetry.

cog

(colloquial) Short for 上線 (“to go online”).

7th tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "ascension" (𝌌)


上

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (上):
* → Japanese: 上(じょう) (jō)
* → Korean: 상(上) (sang)
* → Vietnamese: thượng (上, “upper”), thướng (上, “to go up”)

(～聲) (Chinese phonetics) rising tone in Chinese phonetics


夠

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *koː, *koːs, *kʰoː): semantic 多 + phonetic 句 (OC *koː, *koːs, *kos, *ɡo).

Han compound

你們真的是夠厲害了！

你们真的是够厉害了！

夠嗮煩

够嗮烦

(with negative connotations) quite; impressively


圓

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (圓):
* → Japanese: 円(えん) (en)
* → Korean: 원(圓) (won)

⇒ Khmer: នំអ៊ី (num ʼii, “tangyuan”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢon): semantic 囗 + phonetic 員 (OC *ɢon, *ɢun).
Borrowed from Tocharian B wänt-, Tocharian A wänt- (“to envelop, to surround”).


先

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 止 (“foot”) + 儿 (“person”) – to go forward.
Sino-Tibetan. Cognate with Tibetan བསེལ (bsel, “to protect (on a dangerous path); to escort”), Chepang स्यालःसा (syalʔ‑, “to lead; to go or do first; to open way”) (Schuessler, 2007).

cog

我要先去洗手間。

我要先去洗手间。

他比我先畢業。

他比我先毕业。

我要去廁所先。

我要去厕所先。

唔好去住先。

first; ahead of time; before; beforehand


嚴

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (嚴):
* → Japanese: 厳(ごん) (gon); 厳(げん) (gen)
* → Korean: 엄(嚴) (eom)
* → Vietnamese: nghiêm (嚴)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋam): semantic 喦 (“talkative”) + phonetic 敢 (OC *klaːmʔ, “daring”) – the original script of 譀 (OC *qʰlaːms, *qʰraːms, *qʰraːb, “exaggerated and absurd words”).
The meanings of “solemn” and “stern” may be a result of phonetic borrowing.
Schuessler (2007) considers 嚴 (OC *ŋam) to be cognate with the following:
* 巖 (OC *ŋraːm, “(of mountains) high; lofty”)
* 儼 (OC *ŋamʔ, “dignified; majestic”)
* 險 (OC *qʰramʔ, “precipitous; dangerous”)
* 業 (OC *ŋab, “lofty; large”) (an allofam with a stop final).
They are all Sino-Tibetan in origin. Cognates in Tibetan include Tibetan རྔམ་པ་ (rngam pa, “splendor; majesty”) and Tibetan རྔམས (rngams, “height; splendor”). Burmese ငြမ်း (ngram:, “scaffold”) may also be a cognate.

cog

家嚴／家严


妝

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsraŋ): phonetic 爿 (OC *braːn, *zaŋ) + semantic 女 (“female”).


姚

→ English: Yao, Yiu

→ Tagalog: Yao (via Hokkien)

Alternative form of 遙／遥 (yáo, “far; distant”)


姝

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

Han compound

How lovely is the retiring girl!
She was to await me at a corner of the wall.

靜女其姝，俟我於城隅。

静女其姝，俟我于城隅。

(literary, usually of a woman) beautiful; pretty


堵

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjaːʔ, *taːʔ): semantic 土 + phonetic 者 (OC *tjaːʔ).


妄

Characters in the same phonetic series (亡) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *maŋs) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): phonetic 亡 (OC *maŋ) + semantic 女 (“woman”).
With 亡 also including meanings of “loss” or “destruction”, this character can be interpreted as the loss (亡) of one's proper reason after being seduced by a woman (女).


園

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷan): semantic 囗 (“fence”) + phonetic 袁 (OC *ɢʷan).
Borrowed from Tocharian B wänt-, Tocharian A wänt- (“to envelop, to surround”).

bor

蘋果園／苹果园

頤和園／颐和园


名

/ᵐbiaŋ²²⁻²²⁵/

/ᵐbiaŋ²²⁻²²⁵/

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 夕 (“crescent moon”) + 口 (“mouth”) — to say one's own name to identify oneself in the dark.
An alternative theory has been proposed based on Shang era texts. 口 was originally used to write both 口 and 名. 夕 standing for what later came to be written 明, was added as a phonetic indicator to disambiguate the two meanings.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-miŋ (“name”). Cognate with Tibetan མིང (ming), Burmese အမည် (a.many), and Mizo hming.

Han compound

Coordinate term: 姓 (xìng)


塗

→ Thai: ทา (taa, “to smear; to paint”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *rlaː, *l'aː): phonetic 涂 (OC *l'aː, *l'a) + semantic 土 (“earth; dirt”).

Han compound

涂
涂
斁
凃
𡌘
𡍼
𭏚

Alternative form: 土


呵

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qʰaːl, *qʰaːls): semantic 口 + phonetic 可 (OC *kʰaːlʔ).
Probably related to 呼 (OC *qʰaː, “to exhale, shout”); see there for more (STEDT).


壬

→ Zhuang: nyaemz

Characters in the same phonetic series (壬) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形): Possibly carrying pole with a point drawn in the middle, a meaning that was later transferred to 任 (rèn). As an alternative, it's a double-blade axe perhaps made of stone.
The pole is drawn like 工, however the two characters are unrelated; their correlation should belong to folk etymology.


塕

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qloːŋʔ): semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 翁 (OC *qloːŋ).


娶

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰloʔ, *sʰlos, *slo): phonetic 取 (OC *sʰloːʔ, *sʰloʔ) + semantic 女.
Exoactive of 取 (OC *sʰloːʔ, *sʰloʔ, “to take; to obtain; to collect; to fetch”) (Schuessler, 2007). Compare the etymology of 嫁.
In Min Nan, the vernacular reading is instead from 𤆬 (chhōa, “to lead; to guide”).

och-l

娶老婆

"If you marry her, you must love her. If you do not love her, why marry her? Marrying her and not loving her—this is something I cannot permit!"

“nei⁵ cou² zo² keoi⁵ zau⁶ jat¹ ding⁶ jiu³ oi³ keoi⁵. nei⁵ m⁴ oi³ keoi⁵ jau⁶ ho⁴ bit¹ cou² keoi⁵ ne¹? nei⁵ cou² zo² keoi⁵ ji⁴ m⁴ oi³ keoi⁵; ci² si⁶ sai⁶ naan⁴ wan⁵ heoi²!”

「你娶咗佢就一定要愛佢。你唔愛佢又何必娶佢呢？你娶咗佢而唔愛佢；此事誓難允許！」

「你娶咗佢就一定要爱佢。你唔爱佢又何必娶佢呢？你娶咗佢而唔爱佢；此事誓难允许！」


壽

These forms are seen in bronze inscriptions:
# Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djuʔ, *djus): semantic 耂 (“old”) + phonetic 𢏚 (OC *du).
# Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djuʔ, *djus): semantic 耂 (“old”) + phonetic 𠷎 () (𦓃).
# Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djuʔ, *djus): semantic 耂 (“old”) + phonetic 𠼡 ().
The current traditional glyph is from the composition #3, with 又 (yòu) becoming 寸 (cùn) (耂 + 𠾉).

Han compound

寿
𠷎
夀
寿
𧈙
𡔽
𦓃
𠭵
𦓂
寿

壽材

寿材

burial shroud (prepared before one's death)

壽衣

寿衣

(euphemistic) funerary (especially prepared before one's death)


執

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (執):
* → Japanese: 執(しゅう) (shū)
* → Korean: 집(執) (jip)
* → Vietnamese: chấp (執)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 㚔 (“criminal / handcuffs”) + 丮 (“hand”): to arrest. In the present form, 㚔 (niè) and 丮 (jǐ) have been replaced by 幸 (xìng) and 丸 (wán), respectively.
Also phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjib): phonetic 㚔 () + semantic 丮.
Possibly related to Tibetan ཆབ (chab, “power; dominion”) or Khmer ចាប់ (cap, “to grasp; to seize”) (Schuessler 2007). Korean 집 (jip-, “to pick up; to grab”) is probably coincidental.
; “to go bankrupt and close down”

Han compound

执
执
秇
𠌷
𡘺
𡙕
𡚺
𢦕
𦎃

With your hand in mine, we grow old together.

執子之手，與子偕老。

执子之手，与子偕老。

When touring the mountains, a lazy horse is good; holding my whip, I therefore use it not.

《看山》("Touring the mountains") by Kim Byeong'yeon (金炳淵), 1800s

Gwon ma gan san ho, jip pyeon go bul ga.

倦馬看山好，執鞭故不加。


娥

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋaːl): semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 我 (OC *ŋaːlʔ)

Han compound

(Chinese mythology) Short for 嫦娥 (Cháng'é, “Chang'e, the Chinese goddess of the moon”).


境

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kraŋʔ): semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 竟 (OC *kraŋs).
An allofam of 疆 (OC *kaŋ, “boundary”). Cognate with 竟 (OC *kraŋs, “to end”) (Schuessler, 2007).


單

Characters in the same phonetic series (單) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) of a war or hunting weapon, a, Y-shaped wooden stick with two stones attached on top. The component in the middle in some oracle bones was a huge point wich represented a rope around the stick; perhaps, this weapon was used as a spear and then retrieved through this rope. Otherwise, the huge point in the middle was another stone attached to the stick. The huge point was then stylized as an horizontal trait, as 口 (the stick resembled 中) and eventually as 田. The horizontal stroke at the bottom of the character was added later.
An alternative theory suggests that it represents a net to catch animals with two weights on top, but the huge point in the middle of the character in some oracle bones may not be a web or net.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(d/t)a(n/j) (“single; one; whole; only”). Cognate with 但 (OC *daːn, *daːnʔ, *daːns, “only; but”).

och-l

(mathematics) Short for 單數／单数 (dānshù, “odd”).

(linguistics) Short for 單數／单数 (dānshù, “singular”).


報

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (報):
* → Japanese: 報(ほう) (hō)
* → Korean: 보(報) (bo)
* → Vietnamese: báo (報)

→ Lao: ປ່າວ (pāo, “announce”)

→ Thai: ป่าว (bpàao, “announce”)

→ Vietnamese: bảo

→ Zhuang: bau

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 㚔 (“handcuffs”) + 𠬝 (“to subdue”) – to convict; to punish; to declare guilty.


堂

/tʰɔːŋ²¹⁻³⁵/

/tʰɔːŋ²¹⁻³⁵/

Characters in the same phonetic series (尚) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *daːŋ): phonetic 尚 (OC *djaŋ, *djaŋs) + semantic 土. But the component 向 actually represents a house.

Han compound

of the same paternal grandfather or great-grandfather


妳

妳真是個好人。

你真是个好人。

(chiefly Taiwanese Mandarin) you (singular, female)


奉

Originally phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *boŋʔ): phonetic 丰 (OC *pʰoŋ) + semantic 廾 (“two hands”)， hence the original version is 𠬻. 手 (“hand”) was later added at the bottom, and the original character was corrupted into 𡗗. Related to 舉.

Han compound

(～母) (Chinese linguistics) the Middle Chinese initial of 奉 (MC bjowngX)


圈

/t͡ɕʰy̯ɛn⁵⁵/

/t͡ɕʰy̯ɑɻ⁵⁵/

/t͡ɕʰy̯ɛn⁵⁵/

/t͡ɕʰy̯ɑɻ⁵⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰron, *ɡronʔ, *kʰon, *ɡlonʔ, *ɡlons): semantic 囗 + phonetic 卷 (OC *ɡron, *kronʔ, *krons, *ɡonʔ).


奪

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 衣 (“clothing”) + 雀 (“bird”) + 又 (“hand”) – a hand seizing a bird from someone.
Ultimately from Proto-Sino-Tibetan. Cognate with 脫 (OC *lˤot, “remove outer covering”) and 蛻 (OC *l̥ˤot-s, “exuviae (skin cast off during molting)”).

och-l

剝奪

剥夺


娑

Being stung by caterpillars can be very painful.

乞刺麻带咬𡅏會做娑娑著

乞刺麻带咬𡅏会做娑娑著

(Eastern Min) of a sharp painful sensation


媲

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰiːs): semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 𣬉 ().


壓

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qreːb): phonetic 厭 (OC *qemʔ, *qems, *qeb) + semantic 土 (“dust”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *krap (“to beat, thrash, winnow”), which is distantly related (via an allofam) to Burmese ယပ် (yap, “fan”), and more directly to the following Sinitic words (STEDT):
* 躐 (OC *rab, “to tread, trample”)
* 押 (OC *kraːb, *qraːb, “to seal, stamp”)
* 臿 (OC *sʰreːb, “pestle; to husk grain with a mortar and pestle”)

och-l

壓碎

压碎

我的腿被石頭壓住了。

我的腿被石头压住了。

I've been so stressed by work lately that it almost makes me out of breath.

Zuìjìn bèi gōngzuò yā de chuǎn bù guò qì lái.

最近被工作壓得喘不過氣來。

最近被工作压得喘不过气来。

壓住怒火

压住怒火

大軍壓境

大军压境

楚晨壓晉軍而陳。

楚晨压晋军而陈。

to approach; to draw near; to close in on


嫦

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djaŋ): semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 常 (OC *djaŋ)


壺

Contraction of 葫蘆 (OC *ɡaː raː, “calabash”) (Wu, 2006).

壶
壷
𠻭
𡔥
𡔦
𡐎
𢑹
𥁖
𡔳
𡔲

pot; jar; kettle (vessel used to boil liquid); jug; vase; can; thermos; bottle; flask; canteen (water bottle)

一壺水

一壶水


壁

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (壁):
* → Japanese: 壁(へき) (heki)
* → Korean: 벽(壁) (byeok)

→ Vietnamese: vách (“wall”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *peːɡ): semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 辟 (OC *peɡ, *pʰeɡ, *beɡ) – an earthen wall.
Possibly borrowed from Proto-Tocharian *pəkənte (“hindering, obstacle”).

bor+

牆壁

墙壁


嬋

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djan): semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 單 (OC *taːn, *djan, *djanʔ, *djans).


姿

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsli): phonetic 次 (OC *sn̥ʰis) + semantic 女 (“woman”).


塞

/t͡sʰɔːi̯³³/

/t͡sʰɔːi̯³³/

Oracle bone script: Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 宀 (“house”) + 工 (“two items”) + 廾 (“two hands”) – stuffing the house with items. Hence, the original version is 𡨄, a character similar but unrelated to 共 but partly related to 展.
Shuowen: Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 𡨄 + 土 (“soil”); the bottom component was added later.

(specifically) the northern frontier of imperial China, as demarcated by the Great Wall


婢

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *peʔ, *beʔ): semantic 女 + phonetic 卑 (OC *pe). May also be considered a ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): semantic 女 (“woman”) + semantic 卑 (“low, inferior”), especially in light of its etymology.
Endoactive of 卑 (bēi, “low, inferior”) (i.e., what is low, what is inferior). Possible allofam of 嬖 (bì, “favorite person, favorite concubine”).

Han compound

(humble) Self-designation used by females in ancient China: your servant


妥

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 爪 (“hand”) + 女 (“woman”) – to comfort, to placate. Original form of 綏 (OC *snul).
Compare 孚.

(archaic) to sit still; to sit peacefully


套

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 大 (“large”) + 長 (“long”) – long, with some reference to hair. Originally written as 𡘷.
It was later borrowed for the “cover; cover with, put on (clothes); link” sense and has now lost its original meaning. It is also used as a classifier for a suit of clothes or a group of things, hence something that can be put on or a group of linked/interconnected things.
Cognate with 韜 (OC *l̥ʰuː); probably cognate with 㧺 and 錔 (OC *tʰuːb).

三房一套 [Hong Kong Cantonese] ― saam¹ fong⁴⁻² jat¹ tou³ [Jyutping] ― Three rooms, one of which is an en suite

(Hong Kong) Short for 套房 (“en suite bedroom”).


奈

A variant of 柰; however it is etymologically unrelated to it. It represents a man (大) and a sacrifical altair (示), perhaps with a reference to a sacrifice.
; “how; why”
; “nano-”


嫠

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *rɯ): phonetic 𠩺 () + semantic 女 (“woman”).


基

Characters in the same phonetic series (其) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kɯ): phonetic 其 (OC *kɯ, *ɡɯ) + semantic 土 (“earth”) – a foundation of earth.

Han compound

𡉊
𡉨
𡉝
𡋵
踑
𨄎
㚻
gay

北北基


婕

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔseb): semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 疌 (OC *zeb).


妗

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qʰrɯːm, *kʰjam, *qʰlɯːm, *ɡrɯms): semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 今 (OC *krɯm).
Fusion of 舅母 (MC gjuwX muwX) (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

> - wife of mother's elder brother; < - wife of mother's younger brother; >< - face-to-face; <> - non-face-to-face


在

Sino-Xenic (在):
* → Vietnamese: tại (在)

Characters in the same phonetic series (才) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phonetic compound (OC *zlɯːʔ, *zlɯːs): phonetic 才 (OC *zlɯː, *zlɯːs) + phonetic 士 (OC *zrɯʔ).
Now phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zlɯːʔ, *zlɯːs): phonetic 才 (OC *zlɯː, *zlɯːs) + semantic 土 (“earth”).
在 was often visually identical to 才 (OC *zlɯː, *zlɯːs, “sprout”) in the oracle bone script and some of the bronze inscriptions. It may be either a phonetic loan or a figurative derivative.
Probably related to 栽 (OC *ʔslɯː, “to plant”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

扗
才
抂
𡉄
𡉈
𡉠
𥩴

樹頭徛予在，毋驚樹尾做風颱／树头徛予在，毋惊树尾做风台

chhiū-thâu khiā hō͘ chāi, m̄ kiaⁿ chhiū-bóe chò-hong-thai

What do you plan to do during the holidays?

你打算在假期裡做什麼？

你打算在假期里做什么？

His diary was not published during his lifetime.

Tā de rìjì zài tā shēngqián wèicéng fābiǎo guò.

他的日記在他生前未曾發表過。

他的日记在他生前未曾发表过。


墓

→ Khmer: ម៉ុង (mong)

→ Indonesian: bong

→ Javanese: ꦧꦺꦴꦁ (bong)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *maːɡs): phonetic 莫 (OC *maːɡ) + semantic 土.


奧

A conservative variant is 𡪃. Shuowen interprets it as a Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *quːɡs): semantic 宀 (“roof”) + phonetic 𢍏 (), but is not widely accepted.

奧依亞依拉克

Àoyīyà Yīlākè

奥依亚依拉克

Àoyīyà Yīlākè

王勃 (Wang Bo), 《益州綿竹縣武都山淨慧寺碑》

武都仙鎮，龍墟奧域。

王勃 (Wang Bo), 《益州綿竹縣武都山淨慧寺碑》

武都仙镇，龙墟奥域。


塔

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (塔):
* → Japanese: 塔(とう) (tō)
* → Korean: 탑(塔) (tap)
* → Vietnamese: tháp (塔)

→ Thai: ถะ (tà, “pagoda”)

Eastern Han
Lokaksema (Buddhist monk)
Middle Chinese
Old Chinese

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tʰuːb): semantic 土 + phonetic 荅 (OC *tkuːb).
Borrowed from a Middle Indo-Aryan language into the late Old Chinese of Eastern Han (alternatively considered an early form of Middle Chinese), for example in the translations attributed to Lokakṣema. Cf. Ashokan Prakrit 𑀣𑀼𑀩𑁂 (thube), Gandhari 𐨠𐨂𐨬 (thuva) and other forms, Pali thūpa, vs. Sanskrit स्तूप (stūpa).

Han compound

(neologism, fandom slang) real identity of a virtual YouTuber


墊

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tiːms, *diːb): phonetic 執 (OC *tjib) + semantic 土 (“earth”).
; "to pay in advance"
Replaced 㞟 (diàn).

Han compound

to pay something in advance; to pay for somebody


孵

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰuw): semantic 卵 (“egg”) + phonetic 孚 (OC *pʰuw).


婚

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hmɯːn): semantic 女 + phonetic 昏 (OC *hmɯːn).


壯

/ʈ͡ʂu̯ɑŋ²¹⁴/

/t͡sʰuɑŋ²¹³/

/ʈ͡ʂu̯ɑŋ²¹⁴/

/t͡sʰuɑŋ²¹³/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsraŋs): phonetic 爿 (OC *braːn, *zaŋ) + semantic 士.

Han compound

Fame portends trouble for men just as fattening does for pigs.

人怕出名豬怕壯

人怕出名猪怕壮

(colloquial or dialectal, chiefly Hakka or Wu, of a person or an animal) fat


奸

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kaːn): semantic 女 + phonetic 干 (OC *kaːn).
* Mandarin
*:(Pinyin): jiān (jian¹)
*:(Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄢ
*::
* Cantonese (Jyutping): gaan¹
* Eastern Min (BUC): găng
* Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): kan
* Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹ke; ¹ci
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)⁺
*** Hanyu Pinyin: jiān
*** Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄢ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: jian
*** Wade–Giles: chien¹
*** Yale: jyān
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jian
*** Palladius: цзянь (czjanʹ)
*** Sinological IPA ⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: gaan¹
*** Yale: gāan
*** Cantonese Pinyin: gaan¹
*** Guangdong Romanization: gan¹
*** Sinological IPA ⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /kaːn⁵⁵/
* Eastern Min
** (Fuzhou)
*** Bàng-uâ-cê: găng
*** Sinological IPA ⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /kaŋ⁵⁵/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: Quanzhou, General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kan
*** Tâi-lô: kan
*** Phofsit Daibuun: kafn
*** IPA (Quanzhou): /kan³³/
*** IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung, Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /kan⁴⁴/
* Wu
** (Northern: Shanghai)
*** Wugniu: ¹ke; ¹ci
*** MiniDict: ke^平; ci^平
*** Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹ke; ¹ji
*** Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /ke⁵³/, /t͡ɕi⁵³/
Note:
*1ke - vernacular;
*1ji - literary.


姊

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsiʔ): semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 𠂔 (Middle Chinese: t͡ʃɨ^X).
From Austroasiatic; compare Old Mon kuṁci (“sister”) (Schuessler, 2007); connection with Proto-Tibeto-Burman *dzar (“sister (of man)”), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *dzər ~ tsər (Benedict, 1974) is "phonetically less direct" (ibid.).

cog

(Hokkien, familiar) respectful honorific used after a name for an elder sister or any female senior: Miss; Sister


嫖

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰew, *pʰews): semantic 女 + phonetic 票 (OC *pʰew).

Han compound

to visit prostitutes; to patronise prostitutes