酉

Pictogram (象形) — an ancient vase used in making and storing fermented millet alcoholic drink. See 酒.
A similar character is 酋, which indicates two drops of alcohol coming out of the vase. Unrelated to 西.
;"wine; wine vessel"
; "tenth earthly branch"
: As for 酉 (yǒu)'s association with the chicken, Norman (1985) proposes that Chinese and Thai forms derived from Viet-Muong *rə̆k ~ *ruk, truncated from Proto-Vietic *r-kaː (“chicken”), yet Ferlus (2013) thinks this correspondence unlikely. Possibly, 酉 (yǒu) was arbitrarily associated with the chicken, just like 辰 (chén) with the dragon.
;“unitary”


犬

Bai: *qʰuaŋ²

/t͡ɕʰy̯ɛn²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕʰyɵn²¹³/

/t͡ɕʰy̯e̞⁴¹/

/t͡ɕʰy̯ɛn²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕʰyɵn²¹³/

/t͡ɕʰy̯e̞⁴¹/

Characters in the same phonetic series (犬) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – the side view of a dog.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-kʷəj-n (“dog”); cognate with Tibetan ཁྱི (khyi, “dog”), Burmese ခွေး (hkwe:, “dog”).
This common Sino-Tibetan word has been replaced by 狗 (OC *koːʔ) in most topolects except Eastern Min, such as Fuzhou kēng. In other topolects, this word is mainly found in compounds and not used alone.

Han etyl

警犬

He who is presenting a horse or a sheep should lead it with his right hand. He who is presenting a dog should lead it with his left hand.

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

Xiào mǎ xiào yáng zhě yòu qiān zhī; xiào quǎn zhě zuǒ qiān zhī.

效馬效羊者右牽之；效犬者左牽之。

效马效羊者右牵之；效犬者左牵之。

(formal or in compounds or Eastern Min, Waxiang, dialectal Wu) dog


西

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (西):
* → Japanese: 西(さい) (sai); 西(せい) (sei)
* → Korean: 서(西) (seo)
* → Vietnamese: tây (西)

ja-r

Japanese: 西(シャー) (shā, “west wind (mahjong tile)”)

Pictogram (象形) – a bag or basket, borrowed for phonetic value. Compare 東 (OC *toːŋ, “bundle > east”), 束 and 鹵. Traditionally explained as a pictogram of a bird settling into its nest, which by analogy with the setting of the sun means “west”. This etymology has been disputed (Sears), but Sagart (2004) stands by it.
See also the top component of 票, originally two hands holding an object vaguely similar to a bag, basket or nest.
The word is traditionally reconstructed to have a /*s/-initial in Old Chinese, e.g. /*sɯːl/ in Zhengzhang (2003). However, recent scholarship has suggested that the Old Chinese initial should instead be reconstructed as /*s-nˤ/, one of the reasons being 西 appears to be the phonetic in 迺 (nǎi), the archaic graphic variant of 乃 (OC *nɯːʔ). The new reconstruction, /*s-nˤər/ in Baxter and Sagart (2014), also accounts for how 西 can be the phonetic in 哂 (shěn, “to smile”). For more information, see Sagart (2004), Baxter and Sagart (2014) and Nohara (2018).
In light of the new construction with the initial consonant cluster /*s-nˤ/, the possibilities of the etymology of 西, aside from being cognate with 棲／栖 (qī, “to roost; to rest”) (B-S OC /*s-nˤər/), include:
* Related to Tibetan ནེར་བ (ner ba, “to sink; to fall gradually”) (Unger, 1990).
* Related to Chepang नेलःसा (nelʔ‑, “to go down; to sink”), which may be the same etymon as the Written Tibetan word above (Schuessler, 2007).
* Related to the root 尼 (nǐ, “to stop”) (OC /*nˤərʔ/ for intransitive form, /*nˤərʔ-s/ for transitive form in Baxter and Sagart (2014)).
* Related to Tibetan མནལ (mnal, “sleep”) and Burmese နား (na:, “to rest; to stop for a while”) (Hill, 2019).
* An Austroasiatic nominal n-infix derivative from the root "go down", as in Old Mon cnis (“ghat”) < Old Mon cis (“to go down”) , with Proto-Austroasiatic *tsn- > Proto-Sinitic *sn-. Therefore, this etymon literally means "the place where one goes down to > Mon "ghat" > OC "nest, west". The base form is 濟 (OC *ʔsliːls) via Austroasiatic (Schuessler, 2007).


馬

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (馬):
* → Japanese: 馬(ば) (ba)
* → Korean: 마(馬) (ma)
* → Vietnamese: mã (馬, “(xiangqi) horse; (chess) knight”)

desctree

→ Proto-Tai: *maːꟲ (“horse”)
Northern Tai
Bouyei: max
Zhuang: max
Central Tai
Tày: mạ
Nùng: mạ
Nong Zhuang: max
Proto-Southwestern Tai:
Ahom: 𑜉𑜠 (ma), 𑜉𑜡 (mā), 𑜉𑜡𑜠 (māa)
Thai: ม้า (máa)
Northern Thai: ᨾ᩶ᩣ
Lao: ມ້າ (mā)
Lü: ᦙᦱᧉ (maa²)
Tai Dam: ꪣ꫁ꪱ
Shan: မႃႉ (mâ̰a)
Tai Nüa: ᥛᥣᥳ (mȧa)

desc

→ Thai: เบ๊ (bée, “horse”) (via Teochew)

Cursive script (East Asia)
Semi-cursive script

Pictogram (象形) – a horse with its head facing the left, showing a flowing mane in the wind. In the bronze inscriptions, the head was often simplified into an eye (目 (mù)). The legs eventually evolved into four dots (灬 (huǒ), unrelated to 火 (huǒ)).
Contrast with 鹿 (lù, “deer”), which saw a very different development, and 𢊁 (as in 薦／荐 (jiàn)), which is a hybrid: it has the legs of 馬 (灬 (huǒ)) but the head of 鹿 (lù).
“Horse” – from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-m-raŋ ~ s-raŋ. The sense of “big” is derived from “horse”; compare the English uses of horse.
For the insect prefix sense, see 螞／蚂. It has converged with the sense of “big”.
The surname is popularly known to be prevalent among Hui Muslims, where it is likely derived from Arabic مُحَمَّد (muḥammad, “Muhammad”), although the surname 馬 itself predates Islam.

马
𫠉
傌
𢒗
𢒠
𢒧
𩡬
𩡮
抹
碼

阿胡拉·馬茲達

Āhúlā Mǎzīdá

阿胡拉·马兹达

Āhúlā Mǎzīdá

馬斯特里赫特

Mǎsītèlǐhètè


車

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (車):
* → Japanese: 車(しゃ) (sha)
* → Korean: 차(車) (cha), 거(車) (geo)
* → Vietnamese: xa (車)

→ Vietnamese: xe (車, “wheeled vehicle”)

→ Zhuang: ci (“vehicle”)

Pictogram (象形) – originally a carriage seen from above. In the oracle bone script, there were large wheels on both sides and a sun shade on the top. Later, when Chinese characters were written vertically, the wheels on both sides were simply drawn in strokes and the loading area was marked with a 田 (OC *l'iːŋ). Therefore, it is important to understand that the current character, 車 (OC *kʰlja, *kla) is a vertical depiction of a carriage.
Note that 倝 (OC *kaːns) and 朝 (OC *ʔr'ew, *r'ew) are not derived from 車 (OC *kʰlja, *kla).
Perhaps a loan from an Indo-European language because the horse and chariot were introduced into China around 1200 BC from Inner Asia; compare Tocharian A kukäl, Tocharian B kokale (“wagon; cart”) (Mair, 1990, Bauer, 1994), from Proto-Tocharian *kuk(ä)le, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos, a form of *kʷel- (“to turn”). Cognate with English wheel, Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos), Lithuanian kaklas (“neck”), etc.
An older variant survives in Mandarin 軲轆／轱辘 (gūlu, “wheel”) (Bauer, 1994). Alternatively, the word is a derivation by k-prefix from 舁 (OC *la, “to lift”) (Baxter and Sagart, 1998); compare the semantic parallel in Tibetan ཐེག་པ (theg pa, “vehicle; carriage”) (OC *kʰljaʔ, *kʰljas) and 居 (OC *kas) (Schuessler, 2007). Pronunciation 2 is traditionally regarded as the older pronunciation.
The sense of lewd content is derived from 老司機／老司机 (lǎosījī).

cog

(xiangqi) chariot; rook: 🩫 (Classifier: 隻／只 c)


秋

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰi̯əu̯³³/

/t͡ɕʰi̯əu̯³³/

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰi̯əu̯³³/

/t͡ɕʰi̯əu̯³³/

The oracle bone forms and bronze inscriptions show the pictogram (象形) of a cricket or a locust, sometimes with a fire 火 glyph underneath. In its later form, became a Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰɯw): semantic 禾 (“grain”) + abbreviated phonetic 𤒅 (). Often thought of as an Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 禾 (“grain”) + 火 (“fire”); after harvesting the grain, the fields are burned to kill locusts and their eggs.
Unclear.
Schuessler (2007) minimally reconstructs Old Chinese *tshiu < Proto-Chinese *C-nh(i)u and proposes its cognacy to either:
* 收 (OC *(n)hiu, “to reap, harvest, gather”); or
* 卒 (OC *tsut, “to finish, end, die”), as vegetation dies in autumn; additionally in Zuozhuan, this word's referent was winter's dead vegetation.
Alternatively, Sagart (2023b) relates 秋 (OC *tsʰiw) to 揫 (OC *[dz]iw, “to collect, bring together”), whose Old Chinese reconstruction should possibly be amended to *m-tsʰiw or *m-tsiw.

och-l

*秌
𤇫
𥝛
𥡄
𥡌
𥤚
𥤛
𪺋
𥤠
𪔁
𪚼
𪛁
*龝

麥秋

麦秋


狗

Wutunhua: gek

Characters in the same phonetic series (句) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *koːʔ): semantic 犬 (“dog”) + phonetic 句 (OC *koː, *koːs, *kos, *ɡo).
From some language ancestral to modern Hmong-Mien languages, from Proto-Hmong-Mien *qluwˣ (“dog”), perhaps from Proto-Austronesian *(u-)(ŋ)kuɣkuɣ (“dog”) (Norman, 1988; Benedict, 1996).
Alternatively, STEDT derives this from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-kʷəj-n (“dog”), whence also 犬 (OC *kʰʷeːnʔ).
Less likely, it may be related to 駒 (OC *ko, “foal”), 羔 (OC *kluː, “lamb”), 𤘽 (“calf”) (Wang, 1982).

Han compound

餵狗

喂狗

累成狗


月

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (月):
* → Japanese: 月(げつ) (getsu); 月(がつ) (gatsu); 月(がち) (gachi)
* → Okinawan: 月(ぐゎち) (gwachi)
* → Korean: 월(月) (wol)
* → Vietnamese: nguyệt (月), ngoạt (月)

→ Bouyei: nguad (“month”)

→? Thai: งวด (ngûuat, “appointed time”)

→ Zhuang: nyied (“moon; month”)

/ᵑɡut̚³²⁻²¹/

/ᵑɡut̚³²⁻²¹⁵/

/ᵑɡut̚³²⁻²¹/

/ᵑɡut̚³²⁻²¹⁵/

Pictogram (象形) – pictographic representation of a crescent moon. Related to 夕 (xī) and interchangeable in the past, but both are unrelated to 多, in which it represents two pieces of meat stylized as 夕.
Unrelated to:
* 前, in which it represents a boat 舟 (歬 > 𠝣 > 𣦃 > 前);
* 朕, in which it represents a boat again (𦩎 > 𦨶 > 朕)
* 青, in which it represents cinnabar 丹 (𤯞 > 靑 > 青);
* 赢, in which it represents the elongated face of a kind of dragon, perhaps a Panlong;
* 祭 and 將, in which it represents sacrificed meat stylized as 𱼀;
* 然, in which it represents dog meat (肰).
* 肖 and 有, in which it represents just meat.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ŋʷ(j)a-t (“moon; star”), whence also Magar [Term?] (gya hot, “moon”), Proto-Lolo-Burmese *mwatᴸ (“star; moon”) (whence Lahu məʔ-kə (“star”)), Drung gurmet (“star”) (Matisoff, 1980; LaPolla, 1987; STEDT).
Various alternative etymologies have also been proposed:
* Unger (1992) proposes cognation with Tibetan ངོ (ngo, “waxing and waning moon; half moon”) (as in མར་ངོ (mar ngo, “waning moon”) and ཡར་ངོ (yar ngo, “waxing moon”)), which Schuessler (2007) connects to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ŋow (“white; light colour”). However, Sagart (1999) points out that the Tibetan word may be analyzed as a derivative of Tibetan ངོ (ngo, “face”), which would mean the semantic connection between “moon” and “face” had to occur either independently in Chinese and Tibetan or in Proto-Sino-Tibetan; it also requires positing a suffix -t in Chinese.
* Pulleybank (1995a) proposes another etymology based on the glyph for 名 (míng) (reconstructed as *màŋʲ), which he analyses as a phono-semantic compound of phonetic 夕 (xī, “moon”) and semantic 口 (kǒu, “mouth”). He suggests that the phonetic component represents a lost word *màŋʲ (“moon”), and reconstructs 月 as *mŋʲ (consonantal frame of “moon”) + *-at (suffix) > *ŋʲʷat. However, there are more straightforward ways of explaining the glyph origin of 名 (míng) (see there), which would nullify the hypothesis of the lost word.
* Related to 越 (“to pass over; to cross over”) in some way.
** Mei (1979) derives 月 from 越 (OC **gjot > *gwjat): **N-gjot > *ngwjat. Also in this proposed word family is 歲 (OC **s-gjots > *skwjadh, “year”). The semantics of this word family is centred around "to pass; to elapse". While Matisoff (1980) seems supportive of this word family, STEDT reconstructs Proto-Sino-Tibetan *grwat (“to travel; to go through”) for 越 and 歲／岁 (suì), separate from the root for 月.
** Ferlus (2012) reconstructs the Old Chinese as *ŋ.wat and puts it in a word family formed from a Chinese root *wat, having a meaning of "circularity" or "circular boundary". This proposed word family includes 越 (OC *wat, “to cross over”), as in "to cross the enclosure of the village", and 外 (OC *ŋ.wat-s, “outside”), as in "out of the enclosure of the village".

cog

雙黃蓮蓉月／双黄莲蓉月 [Cantonese] ― soeng¹ wong⁴⁻² lin⁴ jung⁴ jyut⁶⁻² [Jyutping] ― lotus seed paste mooncake with two yolks

(Cantonese, in compounds) Short for 月餅／月饼 (“mooncake”).


青

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (青):
* → Japanese: 青(せい) (sei)
* → Korean: 청(靑) (cheong)
* → Vietnamese: thanh (青)

→ Tocharian A: tseṃ (“blue”)

→ Tocharian B: tseṃ m (“blue”), tseñña f

→ Vietnamese: xanh (“green”)

/t͡sʰi̯aŋ²⁴/

/t͡sʰi̯aŋ⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰi̯aŋ²⁴/

/t͡sʰi̯aŋ⁵⁵/

Second round of simplified Chinese characters

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 生 (“growth of plants”) + 丹 (“cinnabar”); a more conservative variant is 𤯞. Cinnabar was used for dyeing, and by extension, came to imply “color” in general, giving the combined meaning “color of growing plants” → “blue-green”.
In the modern glyph, the top component is reduced to 龶, and the bottom component resembles the unrelated 月 (yuè, “moon”).
The second-round simplified form of the character is based on the calligraphic form of the character.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-riŋ ~ s-r(j)aŋ (“to live; to be alive; to give birth; raw; green”). Cognate with 生 (OC *sʰleːŋ, *sreŋs, “to live”), 蒼 (OC *sʰaːŋ, “green; blue”), 性 (OC *sleŋs, “nature”), 姓 (OC *sleŋs, “surname”). Note 蒼 (OC *sʰaːŋ) may be an old dialect variant of 青 (OC *sʰleːŋ) (Schuessler, 2007).

inh

靑
寈
㞭
𡗡
𡴏
𡴑
𡷉
𤯝
𤯞

青黃不接

青黄不接

blue-green ("grue")-colored items
crops that have not yet ripened

老中青

知青

覺青

觉青

青藏鐵路

青藏铁路

Short for 青海 (Qīnghǎi, “Qinghai Province”).


愛

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (愛):
* → Japanese: 愛(あい) (ai)
* → Korean: 애(愛) (ae)
* → Vietnamese: ái (愛)

→? Proto-Hlai: *ʔəːp (“to love”)

Originally 㤅 (xì), a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qɯːds): phonetic 旡 (OC *kɯds) + semantic 心 (“heart”). However, the phonetic component indicates somebody kneeling with an open mouth perhaps while panting.
As early as the Qin dynasty, a meaningless component 夊 (suī, “foot”) was added to the bottom of the character, as with some other characters depicting people. Compare 憂／忧 (yōu) (from 㥑). Hence, the character changed into 𢙴.
Further corruption of the top component of 𢙴 turned the original phonetic 旡 (jì) into ⿱爫冖.
Based on Baxter's (1992) Old Chinese reconstruction /*ʔɨts/, STEDT suggests that it is from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ŋ-(w)aːj (“to copulate; to love; to be gentle”). Compare Proto-Karen *ʔai (“to love”), whence Pa'o Karen [script needed] (ʔái, “to love”), S'gaw Karen အဲၣ် (ʼeh̀, “to love”); Southern Bai e⁴⁴ (“love”); Mizo hma-ngaih (“to love, to like”); Jingpho nwai (“to respect, to love”), ngwi (“to be gentle”); Burmese ငွေ့ (ngwe., “to be gentle, moderate”). The Chinese word is related to a Tibeto-Burman allofam without initial *ŋ-. STEDT states that an Old Chinese reconstruction of /*ʔɨjs/ for 愛 is also possible because Old Chinese rhyming does not provide direct evidence of contacts with *-t.
However, Baxter and Sagart (2014) reconstructs /*[q]ˁə[p]-s/, which ends in *-p-s instead. The Old Chinese contrast between *-p-s and *-t-s was lost at a late stage of Old Chinese. The final *-p is not reflected in the Tibeto-Burman comparandum provided by STEDT, making the likelihood that the Chinese form is related to the rest very low (Sagart, 2019). Behr (2016) suggests a derivation from a verbal root meaning "to draw in; to inhale; to suck in", relating it to 吸 (OC *qʰ(r)əp, “to inhale”), 欱 (OC *qʰˁ[ə]p, “o sip”), 愾 (OC *qʰəp-s, “to sigh with regret”), 僾 (OC *qˁəp-s, “to pant”), 氣 (OC *C.qʰəp-s, “vapour; breath”).

cog

爱
㤅
𢙴
𢛭
𢜤
𤔠
𤔤
𢟪
𢖻
要

他愛說話。

他爱说话。

我不愛吃豬肉。

我不爱吃猪肉。

You love a man and wish him to live; you hate him and wish him to die.

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

愛之欲其生，惡之欲其死。

爱之欲其生，恶之欲其死。

What I like about the lotus is the fact that it grows out of pond dregs yet is not caught in the filth.

1063, Zhou Dunyi, 《愛蓮說》 (On the Love for the Lotus)

予獨愛蓮之出淤泥而不染。

予独爱莲之出淤泥而不染。


零

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (零):
* → Japanese: 零(れい) (rei)
* → Korean: 령(零) (ryeong)
* → Vietnamese: linh (零)

→ Bouyei: lingz

→ Lü: ᦟᦲᧃᧉ (liin²)

→ Zhuang: lingz

/liaŋ²²⁻²²⁵/

/liaŋ²²⁻²²⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *riːŋ, *reːŋ, *reːŋs): semantic 雨 (“rain”) + phonetic 令 (OC *ren, *reŋ, *reŋs, *reːŋ, *reːŋs). On the oracle bone script, only thick raindrops are depicted falling from the sky.
Unclear. Schuessler (2007) proposes several possibilities:
* From Austroasiatic; compare Khmer ភ្លៀង (phliəng, “rain”), from Proto-Mon-Khmer *(p)liɲ ~ *(p)liəɲ ~ (p)liiɲ (“sky, rain”).
* Possibly related to Jingpho marang (“rain”), for which STEDT sets up Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m/s-raŋ (“rain”). Starostin also relates it to this Jingpho word and sets up Proto-Sino-Tibetan *rēŋ (“to drop”), also comparing Tibetan སྤྲིན (sprin, “cloud”) and Burmese ရည် (rany, “liquid; juice”).
* Possibly related to 隕 (OC *ɢunʔ, “to drop”) and 霣 (OC *ɢunʔ, “to rain; to fall down like rain”) if one assumes Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r/s/g-wa (“water; rain”) (or its variant *rwe-) can be simplified to *re- and *we-.
Sense "zero" is introduced in 1248 by Chinese mathematician Li Ye.

inh

〇
𠏡
𡈍
𤅫
𥥋
𮖿
𩂙
霗
𩃞
𩅶
𩆖
𩆼
⿳⻗人𰆊


間

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 門 (“door”) + 日 (“sun”). Originally 閒, moonlight (月) peeking through a door (門) – interstice; space.
The two pronunciations are related, with Pronunciation 2 (間 (OC *kreːns)) being the exoactive of Pronunciation 1 (間 (OC *kreːn)).
Related to:
* 隙 (OC *kʰraɡ, “crack; chink”), 澗 (OC *kreːns, *kraːns, “ravine; brook (between mountains)”) (Wang, 1982);
* 閒 (OC *ɡreːn, “lazy; leisure”) (Karlgren, 1957; Baxter, 1992).
Externally, likely related to Mizo kâr (“space between; interval”), Burmese ကြား (kra:, “in-between; interval; interim”), အကြား (a.kra:, “gap; break”) (Schuessler, 2007).


間

/t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴/


蟻

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋralʔ): semantic 虫 (“insect”) + phonetic 義 (OC *ŋrals).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k/p/s-rwak.

Han compound

People are teeny-tiny ants; they can hardly ever go against the test of time

2022, 林家謙 [Terence Lam], lyrics by 黃偉文 [Wyman Wong], 邊一個發明了ENCORE

jan⁴ jyu⁴ gik⁶ sai³ gik⁶ sai³ dik¹ ngai⁵, cung⁴ loi⁴ naan⁴ dik⁶ si⁴ doi⁶ dik¹ sai² lai⁵

人如極細極細的蟻 從來難敵時代的洗禮

人如极细极细的蚁 从来难敌时代的洗礼


朝

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (朝):
* → Japanese: 朝(ちょう) (chō)
* → Korean: 조(朝) (jo)
* → Vietnamese: triều (朝)

/t͡sʰiːu̯²¹/

/t͡sʰiːu̯²¹/

Guo Moruo
Han dynasty
Shuowen
Spring and Autumn period
Warring States period
bamboo and wooden slips

In the oracle bone script, it was an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 2 or 4 屮 (“grass”) or even 木 (“tree”) + 日 (“sun”) + 月 (“moon”) – the sun rising above the ground while the waning moon is still in the sky – the morning.
In the bronze script, it was a compound of 𠦝 and a pictograph of a river (川 or 水) – this was possibly an original form for 潮 (OC *r'ew, “tide”). The river glyph may be a corruption of 月 due to association with tides or diurnal events. Chi (2010) considers such forms to be phono-semantic (形聲／形声), where 𠦝 is the abbreviated form of the phonetic 朝 (OC *ʔr'ew, *r'ew). In the some late Western Zhou forms, 𠦝 was corrupted into a form resembling 車.
According to Guo Moruo, in the stone drum inscriptions (石鼓文 (shígǔwén), likely from the Spring and Autumn period) 㫃 was added (attached to 車), and the river glyph was replaced with 舟 (OC *tjɯw), which was interpreted as the phonetic component; the small seal script might have inherited from this form. Shuowen interpreted the fused components of 𠦝 and 㫃 as a semantic component 倝 (“dawn”). However, the accuracy of identification has been questioned; the character was a heavily weathered one in which the 㫃 identification was probably spurious and likely influenced by the Shuowen. Meanwhile, the 舟 component on the right remained somewhat legible.
The 舟 component remained in the bamboo and wooden slips of the Warring States period (see the table). In the clerical script since the Han dynasty, 舟 had been reverted to 月; it is unclear whether this was a remnant from 月 in the oracle bone script or a corruption of 舟 (as in 朕 < 𦩎 and many other characters). The current form is essentially inherited from the clerical script.
“Morning” > “perform the morning ceremony” > “to go/come to court; to have an audience”. Derivative: 潮 (OC *r'ew, “morning tide”).
Perhaps related to Thai เพรา (prao, “morning”) (Manomaivibool, 1975).

GT - General Taiwanese (no particular region identified)

美朝關係

美朝关系

Short for 朝鮮／朝鲜 (Cháoxiǎn, “North Korea; Korea”).


蛇

Sino-Xenic (蛇):
* → Japanese: 蛇(じゃ) (ja); 蛇(だ) (da)
* → Okinawan: 蛇(じゃー) (jā)
* → Korean: 사(蛇) (sa)
* → Vietnamese: xà (蛇)

Wutunhua: shai

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l̥ʰaːl, *ɦljaːl, *lal): semantic 虫 + phonetic 它 (OC *l̥ʰaːl). 它 was also the original pictographic form of this character.
Unclear. Various theories have been proposed:
* Starostin sets up Proto-Sino-Tibetan *lăj (“snake”), comparing this with Mizo hlai-ba (“a species of snake”) and Jingpho palai (“a species of iguana”). He also compares it to Proto-Kam-Sui *dzuːi² (“snake”). Schuessler (2007) considers these Tibeto-Burman forms to be unrelated.
* Matisoff (2003) relates it to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-b/m-ruːl (“snake”), but this comparison is no longer held in STEDT.
* Sagart (2005) relates it to Proto-Loloish *lay¹/² (“python”), which STEDT derives from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-lja(ŋ/k) (“python”), as well as Proto-Austronesian *bulay (“snake”). Comparison with the Austronesian form has been challenged by Orlandi (2018).
* Schuessler (2007) notes similarity to Proto-Hlai *ljaːɦ (“snake”) (from Pre-Hlai *Cilaːɦ) as well as to Austronesian words, such as Rade ala (“snake”), but considers the Kra-Dai forms to be possible borrowings from Chinese. (He does not seem to address the Austronesian forms directly.) In his view, a more likely relationship is with the /-lé/ in Khmer រលេ (rɔlei, “sinuously, in a twisting or wiggling manner (as a snake swimming)”). In Old Chinese, this also provides the second syllable in 委蛇 (OC *qrol lal, “winding; compliant; graceful”). 蛇 (“the winding thing”) is then a euphemism for common Sino-Tibetan 虺 (OC *hŋlulʔ, “snake”) for taboo reasons.
* Zhengzhang (2011) relates it to Proto-Austronesian *SulaR (“snake”).

och-l

它
虵
𢕷
𣙛
𤜣
𥝀
𧉮

生蛇 [Cantonese] ― saang¹ se⁴ [Jyutping] ― to have shingles

蛇針／蛇针 [Cantonese] ― se⁴ zam¹ [Jyutping] ― shingles vaccine

(regional, pathology) herpes zoster; shingles


赤

→ Proto-Mien: *sekᴰ (“red”)

/t͡sʰiɪk̚³²/

/t͡sʰiɪk̚³²/

Characters in the same phonetic series (赤) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 大 (“person, big”) + 火 (“fire”) – the color of fire (a person by a fire). The original version is 𤆍.
The man on top is simplified as 土 as in 去 and 走 (< 𧺆). The fire is stylized as well, but an intermediate and obsolete variant is 灻.
Perhaps from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *krak (“blood; red”), whence Tibetan ཁྲག (khrag, “blood”) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007). Related to 赫 (OC *qʰraːɡ, “bright red”) and possibly 奭 (OC *hjaɡ, “majestic; red”).

Han compound

赤化

(politics) revolutionary; communist; red

(Mainland China Hokkien) poor; impoverished


漢

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

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (漢):
* → Japanese: 漢(かん) (kan)
* → Korean: 한(漢) (han)
* → Vietnamese: Hán (漢)

→ Arabic: هان (hān)

→ Bulgarian: хан (han)

→ English: Han

→ Finnish: Han

→ French: Han

→ German: Han

→ Khmer: ហាន (haan)

→ Polish: Han

→ Portuguese: han

→ Russian: хань (xanʹ), ханец (xanec)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hnaːns): semantic 水 (“water”) + abbreviated phonetic 暵 (OC *hnaːnʔ, *hnaːns) or 熯 (or 難 according to Xu Shen) – name of a river in China (漢水 or 漢江). Xu Shen links the third contracted phonetic component to the ancient variant 灘. The component to the left as a result of a contraction appears as a variant of 堇, which is the pictogram of a man burned alive as a sacrifice. It is partly unclear whether or not the phonetic component also suggests a morphological feature of the Han river (e.g., a dry river or a river that flows with difficulty) or simply indicates part of the pronounciation; Xu Shen puts no explanation.
A second ancient variant of the character reported by Xu Shen is 㵄 (perhaps analyzable as 淢 and 大).
The usage for the Chinese ethnicity first appeared during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, claiming the Han dynasty as one of the golden ages of Chinese history. Before the Han dynasty, the Chinese referred their land as 華夏 ("Huaxia"), and themselves as 諸華 ("various Hua people") or 諸夏 ("various people/descendants of the Xias"). "Xia" ("Summer; great, splendid") also gave the name to the first semi-legendary Chinese dinasty, the Xia Dinasty (夏朝).

Han compound

When asking about the name of the current dynasty, it became apparent that they did not know about the Han Dynasty, much less the Wei or Jin Dynasties.

421, Tao Yuanming, 桃花源記 (The Peach Blossom Spring)

Wèn jīn shì hé shì, nǎi bùzhī yǒu Hàn, wúlùn Wèi Jìn.

問今是何世，乃不知有漢，無論魏晉。

问今是何世，乃不知有汉，无论魏晋。


米

Short for 米突 (mǐtū), from English metre.

米三

我有一米九高。

2020, “微光 [Glimmer]”, 唐小奕 (lyrics), 曹楊 [Young] (music)performed by 曹楊 [Young]:

[I] am just a tiny light; [I] cannot brighten up an area within a metre.

zhǐshì wēixiǎo de guāng, zhào bù liàng yī mǐ de dìfang

只是微小的光 照不亮一米的地方


魔

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *maːl): phonetic 麻 (OC *mraːl) + semantic 鬼 (“demon”).
Clipping of 魔羅 (MC ma la), from Sanskrit मार (māra, “killing; death; destroyer; demon”).


層

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (層):
* → Japanese: 層(そう) (sō)
* → Korean: 층(層) (cheung)

→ Vietnamese: tầng

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zɯːŋ): semantic 尸 + phonetic 曾 (OC *ʔsɯːŋ, *zɯːŋ).
The Baxter and Sagart (2014) reconstruction suggests this word is derived from 增 (OC *s-tˤəŋ, “to increase, to expand, to add”), in turn derived from 登 (OC *tˤəŋ, “to go up, to climb”).


僕

In the oracle bone script and the early Western Zhou bronze script, it was a pictogram (象形) of a slave or prisoner, with hands holding a basket (其) to pick up garbage, an instrument of punishment (辛) above the head, and a tail (尾) to represent the slave's low status, akin to animals.
其 later corrupts into 甾, the hands (廾) move below 辛, and the slave's body (人) moves to become the left component. Later, 辛 corrupts into 丵 (probably by fusing with 甾) and combines with 廾 to give 菐 (OC *boːɡ, *puɡ), which functions as a phonetic component.
In the current form, it is essentially a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *boːɡ, *buːɡ): semantic 人 (“man”) + phonetic 菐 (OC *boːɡ, *puɡ).
Probably related to Tibetan བུ (bu, “son; boy”) (Coblin, 1986).
Alternatively, Peiros and Starostin (1996) compare it to Tibetan ཕྲུག (phrug, “child”).

Han compound

僕人

仆人

Yea for ten thousand years,
The bright appointment is attached to your person.

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

君子萬年，景命有僕。

君子万年，景命有仆。


城

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (城):
* → Japanese: 城(じょう) (jō)
* → Korean: 성(城) (seong)
* → Vietnamese: thành (城)

→ Lao: ຊຽງ (sīang)

→ Lü: ᦵᦋᧂ (tseng)

→ Northern Thai: ᨩ᩠ᨿᨦ

→ Thai: เชียง (chiiang)

→ Zhuang: singz

/siaŋ²²⁻²²⁵/

/siaŋ²²⁻²²⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djeŋ): semantic 土 (“soil”) + phonetic 成 (OC *djeŋ) since the bricks of the city walls were originally made of stamped earth.
Cognate with 成 (OC *djeŋ, “to complete; city walls”), 盛 (OC *djeŋ, “to hold with a receptacle”), 盛 (OC *djeŋs, “abundant; flourishing”), as 城 (OC *djeŋ, “city wall”) was made of filled-in or stamped earth (Schuessler, 2007). See 成 for more.
Its original meaning was "city walls" and was originally written as 成; later, it started to indicate the city (i.e., the part of territory within the city walls) due to metonymy since a single part of a city indicates the city itself.

och-l

the enemy army is just outside of the walls of the city

兵臨城下

兵临城下

There is a city, with an inner wall of three li in circumference, and an outer wall of seven. The enemy surround and attack it, but they are not able to take it.

Sān lǐ zhī chéng, qī lǐ zhī guō, huán ér gōng zhī ér bù shèng.

三里之城，七里之郭，環而攻之而不勝。

三里之城，七里之郭，环而攻之而不胜。


底

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tiːlʔ): semantic 广 (“building”) + phonetic 氐 (OC *tiːl, *til) – the bottom or base, foundation of a building. Note that 氐, according to one interpretation, is a figure bowing or the root of a tree, hence a connotation of "down"; if the interpretation is correct, the phonetic component also adds part of the meaning.
Cognate with 低 (OC *tiːl, “to lower; low”), 柢 (OC *tiːl, *tiːlʔ, *tiːls, “root of a tree; base”).


士

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (士):
* → Japanese: 士(し) (shi)
* → Korean: 사(士) (sa)
* → Vietnamese: sĩ (士)

Pictogram (象形) – a war axe. Later, it took the meaning of "soldier" and eventually "officer, intellectual". Partly related to 王 since in at least two characters it should represent a ritual axe, perhaps made of jade: in fact, it is related to 圭 and 金 despite their appearence.
;"bachelor, man, male"
:*Reminiscent of Austroasiatic synonyms like Old Khmer si (“male”) or MK words for "man, male" like *ʔŋsiil, *ensir, *kəsəy on the Malay Peninsula; Schuessler (2007) noted that foreign *-r sometimes left traces in OC initial complex. These relations, if, valid, would keep 士₁ "bachelor, man, male" distinct from 士₂ "servant, retainer, officer, scholar".
;"take or give an office, serve", "servant", "retainer", "officer", "scholar"
:*Schuessler (2007) noted that one could naturally assume the semantic development "male > man > servant > to serve" in order to posit that 士₁ "bachelor, man, male" is the same word as 士₂ "servant, retainer, officer, scholar". Yet, the exopassive derivation 事 (OC *ʔsrɯs, *zrɯs) "assignment, affair, thing" and Tibeto-Burman counterparts demonstrated no association with "man, maleness"; & "male" hardly derives from "to serve".
:*Therefore, Schuessler derived these forms from 理 (OC *rɯʔ) "envoy, jail official, matchmaker" & proposed ultimate Austroasiatic origins. In terms of phonology, MC *dʐ- normally does not occur with *l- and *ʂ in an ST word-family, apparently confirming a non-ST provenance; however, MC *dʐ- here could go back to OC *s-r- (unlike MC *ʂ-, which is from OC *sr)
:*Subsequenly, Schuessler posited either relation to Austroasiatic or OC loan into Tibeto-Burman as Proto-Tibeto-Burman *ʔ-dzəj (“send on an errant”) (Matisoff, 2003), whence Burmese စာ (ca, “thing”) & Tibetan རྫས (rdzas, “thing, matter, object”) (Gong, 1999). Even so, Tibeto-Burman cognates of this etymon and 所 (suǒ) are difficult to distinguish.

cog

士兵

noncommissioned officer
noncommissioned officer

(obsolete) soldier; noncommissioned officer


億

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qɯɡ): semantic 人 + phonetic 意 (OC *qɯɡs).

Han compound

But I think that it's better to set a small goal first. For example, make a hundred million [yuans].

Dànshì ne, zuìhǎo xiān dìng yī ge néng dádào de xiǎo mùbiāo, bǐfāng shuō wǒ xiān zhèng tā yī ge yì.

但是呢，最好先定一個能達到的小目標，比方說我先掙它一個億。

但是呢，最好先定一个能达到的小目标，比方说我先挣它一个亿。

hundred million (100,000,000) (sometimes written as 1,0000,0000)

Alternative form of 臆 (yì, “to guess; to estimate; to surmise”)


君

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (君):
* → Japanese: 君(くん) (kun)
* → Korean: 군(君) (gun)
* → Vietnamese: quân (君)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *klun) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): phonetic 尹 (OC *ɢʷlinʔ, “(hand holding a rod) to administer”) + semantic 口 (“mouth”). In the oracle bones and early Zhou bronze inscriptions, 君 (jūn) was often interchanged with 尹. Shuowen suggests that 口 represents commands, but it may simply be decorative.
Unknown. Here are several possibilities:
* Related to Old Mon kmin, kmun (“to exercise royal power; to be king; to reign”) (Schuessler, 2007);
* Related to 尹 (OC *ɢʷlinʔ, “director; governor”) and 元 (OC *ŋon, “head”) and cognate with Tibetan མགོན (mgon, “protector; master; lord”) (Mei Tsu-lin, 1985);
* The *k- prefixed derivative of 尹 (OC *ɢʷlinʔ, “to straighten; to administer”) (Baxter and Sagart, 1998); however, this is phonologically problematic (Schuessler, 2007).
The ACG sense is an orthographic borrowing from Japanese 君 (-kun), which is in turn from Chinese.

och-l

(literary, honorific) you; your (referring to a male)

A polite form of address used among couples.

字幕君

(ACG, Internet slang) Affectionate name suffix.


象

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (象):
* → Japanese: 象(ぞう) (zō); 象(しょう) (shō)
* → Korean: 상(象) (sang)
* → Vietnamese: tượng (象)

→ Common Turkic: *yaŋan

→ Old Uyghur: 𐽶𐽰𐽺𐽷𐽰 (yaŋa)

→ Western Yugur: jaŋan

→? Bulgar:

→? Chuvash: сӑлан (sălan)

→? Proto-Slavic: *slonъ

→ Kalmyk: зан (zan)

→ Mongolian: заан (zaan)

→ Proto-Tai: *ɟaːŋꟲ (“elephant”)

Lao: ຊ້າງ (sāng)

Lü: ᦋᦱᧂᧉ (tsaang²)

Northern Thai: ᨩ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨦ (cang)

Saek: ซาง

Shan: ၸၢင်ႉ (tsâ̰ang)

Tai Dam: ꪋ꫁ꪱꪉ

Tai Nüa: ᥓᥣᥒᥳ (tsȧang)

Thai: ช้าง (cháang)

desc

→ Proto-Lolo-Burmese: *tsaŋ (“elephant”)

Burmese: ဆင် (hcang)

→ Proto-Monic: *ciiŋ ("elephant")

Mon: စိၚ် (coiŋ)

→ Proto-Vietic: *ʔa-ɟaːŋ (“elephant”)

/t͡sʰuɔŋ²⁴²/

/t͡sʰuɔŋ²⁴²/

Pictogram (象形) - pictographic representation of an elephant. ⺈ represents the trunk, 𫩏 represents the head, and 𧰨 represents the body.
This character is used to represent two semantic fields ‘elephant; tusk’ and ‘to outline; to depict; to delineate; to represent; to resemble; to map’. Both fields are found from the earliest layers of the edited literature onwards, whereas only the first meaning is amply attested in oracle bone inscriptions.
Traditionally, the two senses are treated as related, with the sense of ‘to depict; to resemble’ considered a derivative of the sense of ‘elephant’. The derivation from the ‘elephant’ meaning to the ‘likeness’ meaning is explained in Han Feizi First attested in c. 221 BCE: “Men rarely see living elephants. As they come by the skeleton of a dead elephant, they imagine its living form according to its features. Therefore it comes to pass that whatever people use for imagining the real is called 象.”
Modern etymology studies on Old Chinese have challenged this opinion.
As for the ‘elephant; tusk’ sense, this is a widely used area word in East and Southeast Asia. Literature opinions differ on the origin and immediate relationship of this Chinese word; some (e.g. Schuessler, 2007) believe the Chinese form is a loanword from a Southern language, since it is unlikely that peoples all over Southeast Asia and the Himalayan foothills would borrow a word from Northern China to denote an indigenous animal. Others believe the direction of borrowing is reversed (i.e. Tai-Kadai borrowing from Chinese), and that Chinese 象 should be compared with Tibetan གླང (glang), གླང་ཆེན (glang chen, “elephant”) arising from a common Proto-Sino-Tibetan *glaŋ (“ox, bull; elephant”), which may ultimately have an Austroasiatic origin (Behr, 2004). The second viewpoint is supported by the early attestation of this character and the archaeological findings of the historical ranges of elephants. However, Schuessler disputes that second viewpoint and links ST *glaŋ to 犅 (OC *klaːŋ, “ox, bull”).
See below for a tentative borrowing history of the various forms of this general area word.

inh

幼象

They will come presenting their precious things: the large tortoises and their elephants’ teeth, and great contributions of the southern metals.

Lái xiàn qí chēn: yuánguī xiàngchǐ, dàlù nánjīn.

來獻其琛：元龜象齒、大賂南金。

来献其琛：元龟象齿、大赂南金。

elephant (Classifier: 頭／头 m; 隻／只 m c mn)


今

Ideogram (指事) – An inverted 曰 (yuē) ("to speak"), hence 亼 with a horizontal stroke at the bottom, so the inverted mouth means "not to speak".
Another theory suggests that it depicts something in the mouth. Maybe the original form of 噤 (OC *ɡrɯmʔ, *ɡrɯms) or 吟 (OC *ŋɡrɯm, *ŋɡrɯms). The derivative 含 (OC *ɡɯːm) refers to the original word.

Etymology not clear. The word's root may be 其 (OC *ɡɯ, “this”) (Schuessler, 2007).

𫢉
⿱𠆢𬼽
𱎜
旦
當
擔
咊

今天

從今以後

从今以后

古往今來

古往今来

If your Majesty's love of music were very great, Qi would be near to a state of good government! The music of the present day is just like the music of antiquity, as regards effecting that.

Wáng zhī hào yuè shèn, zé guó qí shù jǐ hū. Jīn zhī yuè, yóu gǔ zhī yuè yě.

王之好樂甚，則國其庶幾乎。今之樂，猶古之樂也。

王之好乐甚，则国其庶几乎。今之乐，犹古之乐也。


百

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (百):
* → Japanese: 百(ひゃく) (hyaku)
* → Korean: 백(百) (baek)
* → Vietnamese: bách (百)

→ Ai-Cham: pek⁷

→ Lao: ປາກ (pāk)

→ Lü: ᦔᦱᧅ (ṗaak)

→ Shan: ပၢၵ်ႇ (pàak)

→ Southern Kam: begs

→ Zhuang: bak

→ Proto-Hmong-Mien: *pæk

Iu Mien: baeqv

Western Xiangxi Miao: bat

White Hmong: pua

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *praːɡ): semantic 一 + phonetic 白 (OC *braːɡ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b-r-gja.


千

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (千):
* → Japanese: 千(せん) (sen)
* → Korean: 천(千) (cheon)
* → Vietnamese: thiên (千)

→ Old Uyghur: 𐽻𐽶𐽺 (sén)

→ Zhuang: cien (“thousand”)

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵/

/t͡ɕʰiẽ̞³³⁴/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵/

/t͡ɕʰiẽ̞³³⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sn̥ʰiːn): semantic 一 (“one, signifying a number”) + phonetic 人 (OC *njin). The Old Chinese pronunciations of 千 (OC *sn̥ʰiːn) and 人 (OC *njin) were similar. For the component 人, compare its combining form 亻.
The traditional explanation holds that the extra line indicates an extension (see the etymologies of 年 and 延). 千 has the meaning one thousand because one thousand is a number that is reached by extending one's counting.
Unclear. Schuessler (2007) notes similar forms in Mon-Khmer, though their initials and finals do not match Old Chinese; compare Vietnamese nghìn and Old Mon lṅim (whence Mon လ္ၚီ (ŋìm)), all meaning "thousand". Also compare Proto-Hlai *C-ŋin.

cog

Mon လ္ၚီ (ŋìm)

She quit swindling and went to be a film producer

2019, 尹光 [Wan Kwong], 荷里活有個大老千 [I Bet Your Pardon]

keoi⁵ sau¹ sau² bat¹ zoi³ cin¹, zau² heoi³ lou¹ zai³ pin³⁻²

佢收手不再千 走去撈製片

佢收手不再千 走去捞制片


十

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (十):
* → Japanese: 十(じゅう) (jū)
* → Korean: 십(十) (sip)
* → Vietnamese: thập (十)

→ Ahom: 𑜏𑜢𑜆𑜫 (sip)

→ Bouyei: xib

→ Khmer: ដប់ (dɑp), សិប (səp)

→ Lao: ສິບ (sip)

→ Lü: ᦉᦲᧇ (ṡiib)

desc

→ Saek: ซิ̄บ

→ Saek: ซิ̄บ

→ Shan: သိပ်း (síp)

→ Tai Dam: ꪎꪲꪚ

→ Tai Nüa: ᥔᥤᥙᥴ (síp)

→ Thai: สิบ (sìp)

→ Zhuang: cib

Unlike 一, which was one horizontal stroke meaning one, 十 was originally simply a vertical stroke. In later forms 一 was added, forming a cross.
Possibly a pictogram (象形) for a needle, later written as 針 (OC *kjum, *kjums), borrowed phonetically for 十 (OC *ɡjub, “ten”).
Unrelated to 支, 卖, 直, 真, 德, 甫， and 七 but related to the original version of 丈 and perhaps related to 由.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *gip.

十分

十全十美


水

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (水):
* → Japanese: 水(すい) (sui)
* → Korean: 수(水) (su)
* → Vietnamese: thuỷ (水)

→ Bai: *ɕui²

Central Bai: xuix

Lama Bai: ɕy³³

Panyi Bai: sy³³

Southern Bai: ɕy³³

Wutunhua: xhui (“water”)

Pictogram (象形) of water flowing; sometimes written as the variant 氺 (e.g., 泰, 录, and 黎). Next to a character, it is compressed and stylized into 氵 (which is unrelated to 冫).
Compare 川 (OC *kʰjon) and its variant 巛. Compare also 永 and its cognate 𠂢. See also the bottom part of 原 in its original version.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *lwi(j) (“flow; stream”) (Benedict, 1974; Coblin, 1986; Handel, 1998; Schuessler, 2007; STEDT). Cognate with Mizo lui (“stream; brook; river”), Tedim Chin [script needed] (luːi³, “stream; river”), Jingpho lawi (“to flow (as water)”).
Old Chinese 水 (*lhuiʔ), as reconstructed by Schuessler, is Sino-Tibetan root's endoactive derivation with suffix *-ʔ, meaning "that which is flowing"; its voiceless initial suggests the presence of a nominalizing prefix *k- or *s-. Another derivative from the Sino-Tibetan root is possibly 泫 (winʔ, “to flow”) (minimally reconstructed).
Compare also areal etymon Proto-Mon-Khmer *lujʔ ~ luuj() ~ luəj() ~ ləəj() (“to wade; to swim”).
Alternatively, Gong (1995) reconstructs Old Chinese *hljədx and compares it to Tibetan ཆུ (chu, “water”), which STEDT derives from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tsju (“water; liquid; bodily fluid”).
Baxter and Sagart (2014), employing evidence from the Proto-Min form of the Min colloquial variant 沝, reconstructs the latter *turʔ and thereby reconstructs Old Chinese *s.turʔ, and compares it to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *twəj (“to flow; to suppurate”), which is likely related to *m-t(w)əj-n ~ m-ti-s (“water; fluid; to soak; to be wet”) (STEDT). *s.turʔ was then followed by an Eastern dialectal variant, *s.tujʔ, which leads to Early Middle Chinese *sywijX.
Like Gong (1995), Sagart (2017) compares it to Tibetan ཆུ (chu), but he also compares it to Bodo (India) दै (dwi), Mizo tui, Proto-Karen *thejᴬ, all of which STEDT derives from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-t(w)əj-n ~ m-ti-s. Handel deems derivations from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tsju or *m-t(w)əj-n ~ m-ti-s unlikely because of phonological issues (STEDT).

cog

Short for 划水 (huáshuǐ, “to shirk; to slack off”).


空

Jingpho language
Proto-Sino-Tibetan language

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰoːŋ, *kʰoːŋs): semantic 穴 (“cave, hole”) + phonetic 工 (OC *koːŋ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(g/k)uŋ (“hole; orifice; inner part”). 孔 (OC *kʰloːŋʔ, “hole”) is probably the endoactive derivation of 空 (OC *kʰoːŋ, “hollow; empty”) (Schuessler, 2007). Cognate with Tibetan ཁུང (khung, “hole”), Jingpho ladi hku (“nostril”), Chepang घाङ् (gʰaŋ, “hole”), Burmese ခေါင်း (hkaung:, “cavity”), Naxi ko³³ (“cave; hole; pit”) (STEDT). See also 坑 (OC *kʰraːŋ, “pit”) and 肛 (OC *kroːŋ, *qʰroːŋ, “anus”), which may or may not be related.

inh-lite

我今天有空。

你下午有空嗎？

你下午有空吗？

現在醫生沒空。

现在医生没空。


人

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (人):
* → Japanese: 人(にん) (nin); 人(じん) (jin)
* → Korean: 인(人) (in)
* → Vietnamese: nhân (人)

Austroasiatic languages
Shang dynasty
Yueshi culture

Characters in the same phonetic series (人) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – side view of a standing man, highlighting an arm and a leg. Compare 大, 立 (lì), 卩 (jié), 夭, and 氏 according to one interpretation. See also the original version of 年.
亼 is similar but unrelated; it represents an open mouth flipped upside down and appears on top of characters such as 食, 金, 令, 龠, and 今.
It represents a roof in the characters 余, 茶, 舍, and 倉. It represents a flag on a flagpole in 㫃. Eventually, it represents two parallel mountain walls in 谷.
The stylized version to the left of the characters is 亻 (see also 千). Similar but unrelated to 彳.
Sagart (1999) relates it to Tibetan ཉེན (nyen, “relative”), from ཉེ (nye, “near”) + nominalizing suffix -n; if so, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-naːj ~ s-nej (“near”).
Schuessler (2007) proposes two etymologies:
* Same etymon as 仁 (OC *njin, “to be kind; to be good”), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s/k-niŋ (“heart; brain; mind”). The semantic association of 仁 with 人 was somewhat late, dated to Mencius's time; later on, 仁 would be usually interpreted as "humane, acting like a human being".
** If so, semantically parallel with Tibetan སེམས་ཅན (sems can, “living being, human, animal”, literally “possessor of mind”); and Latin animalis (“living, having soul”) from anima (“soul”).
* Related to Proto-Mon-Khmer *ɲaʔ ~ *ɲah (“person”) with a nominalizing suffix -n, from the auto-ethnonym of a hostile, possibly Austroasiatic-speaking, eastern people, whom the Sinitic-speaking Shang referred to as 人方 (OC *njin paŋ).

ncog

亻
𠆢
儿
𠂉
几
𠔽
𤯔
𦉫
寧
儂/侬
𠆧

吃得苦中苦，方為人上人／吃得苦中苦，方为人上人

chī de kǔ zhōng kǔ, fāng wéi rén shàng rén

(Cantonese) used as a dummy pronoun; someone; others

(obsolete) human affairs; ways of the world


人

University of Santo Tomas#Libraries and archives

The Min native word for “person”; used as a replacement character for 儂／侬. It is historically attested for Hokkien in the Arte de la Lengua Chiõ Chiu (1620) and Dictionario Hispanico Sinicum (1626-1642). Use of 人 for Hokkien is recommended by Taiwan's Ministry of Education (ROC MOE).

亻
𠆢
儿
𠂉
几
𠔽
𤯔
𦉫
寧
儂/侬
𠆧

man; person; people; human being; Homo sapiens (Classifier: 個／个 mn; 隻／只 md)


紋

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mɯn): semantic 糸 (“thread”) + phonetic 文 (OC *mɯn) – a line of thread. Specialised character from 文 (OC *mɯn).
From 文 (OC *mɯn, “mark, tattoo”).


入

Ideogram (指事) - an arrowhead indicating "to enter".
Compare 人 (rén).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *nup ~ nip. Cognate with Tibetan ནུབ (nub, “to fall (gradually), sink, to set; to decay, to decline”) and Burmese နိပ် (nip, “to decline (e.g. price); to be suppressed, to settle, to be quelled”).
Chinese characters belonging to the same word family include:
* 納 (OC *nuːb, “to make enter”)
* 內 (OC *nuːbs, “inside”)
* 軜 (OC *nuːb, “reins on the inside of the horse”)
* 妠 (OC *nuːms, *nuːb, *rnoːd, “to marry (a girl)”)
* 躡 (OC *neb, “to tiptoe, tread”)
* 攝 (OC *neːb, *ʔnjeb, “to take in, photograph, grasp”)
* 鑷 (OC *neb, “tweezers, forceps”)
* and potentially Cantonese 擸 (laap3, “to bring together, to collect”)
The regular Mandarin pronunciation as predicted from Middle Chinese is rì. The irregular sound change is for taboo reasons - to avoid homophony with its derived vulgar meaning "to enter > to have sexual intercourse", nowadays represented by 日 (rì).


乙

→ Zhuang: iet

Unknown. Different ancient texts propose different origins.
* Pictogram (象形) – a developing plant (Shuowen).
* Pictogram (象形) – the intestine of a fish (Erya).
* Pictogram (象形) – the gill bone of a fish (Liji Zhengyi (《禮記正義》)
The character should not be confused with 𠃉 > 鳦.

The second of the ten heavenly stems (天干 (tiāngān))


村

/t͡sʰu̯ən⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰu̯əɻ⁵⁵/

/tʰun²¹⁻²¹⁵/

/t͡sʰyøŋ⁵³³/

/t͡sʰu̯ən⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰu̯əɻ⁵⁵/

/tʰun²¹⁻²¹⁵/

/t͡sʰyøŋ⁵³³/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰuːn): semantic 木 (“tree”) + phonetic 寸 (OC *sʰuːns).
Origin unclear. Seems a late graph, not in Shuowen dictionary of ca.100AD. Ogawa treats it as variant of CO graph 杶 "lacquer tree" which was used phonetically in the sense of "village" in place of another graph for "village", 邨, which may be taken provisionally as 阝 "settlement, village", and 屯 "accumulate, stay" as semantic and phonetic.

Han compound

農村

农村

鄉村

乡村

(attributive) rustic; boorish; uncouth; vulgar

rural village (an administrative unit in the Republic of China)


八

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (八):
* → Japanese: 八(はち) (hachi)
* → Korean: 팔(八) (pal)
* → Vietnamese: bát (八)

desctree

→ Proto-Tai: *peːtᴰ (“eight”)
Proto-Southwestern Tai: *pɛːtᴰ
Thai: แปด (bpɛ̀ɛt)
Northern Thai: ᨸᩯ᩠ᨯ
Lao: ແປດ (pǣt)
Lü: ᦶᦔᧆᧈ (ṗaed¹)
Tai Dam: ꪵꪜꪒ
Shan: ပႅတ်ႇ (pèt)
Tai Laing: ပျꧥတ်
Tai Nüa: ᥙᥦᥖᥱ (pǎet)
Phake: ပိတ် (pit)
Ahom: 𑜆𑜢𑜄𑜫 (pit)
Northern Tai
Bouyei: beedt
Tai Do: pẹt
Zhuang: bet
Central Tai
Nùng: pẻt
Tày: pét

Characters in the same phonetic series (八) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 八 is two bent lines indicating the original meaning of "to divide". This character is later borrowed to mean "eight" because of homonymy, making the original meaning obsolete (now represented by 分 and 別).
Unrelated to the bottom part of 兵, 共, 具, and 兴, in which it represents two hands holding an object. Also unrelated to 只 and 兑 in which it represents air coming out of a mouth. Unrelated to 貝. Eventually, unrelated to the bottom part of 其, 真, and 典, in which it represents the legs of a table.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b-r-gjat (“eight”). Compare Tibetan བརྒྱད (brgyad).

Han etyl

to gossip (about); to stick one's nose in

八婆

Short for 八卦 (bāguà).
(Cantonese) nosey; meddling


二

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (二):
* → Japanese: 二(に) (ni)
* → Korean: 이(二) (i)
* → Vietnamese: nhị (二)

→ Bouyei: ngih

→ Northern Thai: ᨿᩦ᩵

→ Lao: ຍີ່ (nyī)

→ Thai: ยี่ (yîi)

→ Vietnamese: nhì

→ Zhuang: ngeih

Ideogram (指事) - two parallel strokes. Compare with 一, one stroke meaning one, 三, three strokes meaning three, and 亖 (sì), four strokes meaning four. Duplication of 一 (“one”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g/s-ni-s. Cognate to Tibetan གཉིས (gnyis), Sikkimese ཉི (nyi), Tangut 𗍫 (*njɨ̱¹), Burmese နှစ် (hnac), and Nuosu ꑍ (nyip). See also: 次 (OC *sn̥ʰis, “second; next”), a cognate within Chinese languages.

Alternative forms: 𠄠 (èr), 𖿣

(handwritten, dated, now informal) An iteration mark denoting the repetition of the previous hanzi; often written at a smaller size when used for this purpose.

※ Such a definition of a number results from a number's being used without a unit after a quantity with both a value (exists even if hidden) and a unit to indicate the quantity with the value being the number and the unit one grade lower. So does the next definition.

百二

百二

Buying the computer cost me a thousand and two hundred bucks.

買電腦花了一千二。

买电脑花了一千二。

Short for "twenty, two hundred or two thousand" after hundreds, thousands and ten thousands.

The cucumbers are one dollar twenty per half kilogram.

黃瓜一塊二一斤。

黄瓜一块二一斤。


一

Sino-Xenic (一):
* → Japanese: 一(いち) (ichi); 一(いつ) (itsu)
* → Okinawan: 一(いち) (ichi)
* → Korean: 일(一) (il)
* → Jeju: 일 (il)
* → Vietnamese: nhất (一)

→ Ahom: 𑜒𑜢𑜄𑜫 (ʼit)

→ Bouyei: idt

→ Chadong: jit⁷, ji⁴

→ Lao: ເອັດ (ʼet)

→ Shan: ဢဵတ်း (ʼáet)

→ Tai Nüa: ᥟᥥᥖᥱ (ʼět)

→ Thai: เอ็ด (èt)

→ Zhuang: it

Standard Chinese phonology#Tones on special syllables

Ideogram (指事): a horizontal stroke, indicating the number “one”.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ʔit. Descendants from the *ʔit etymon account for the majority of the dialectal forms for “one” in Chinese (Mandarin, Jin, Gan, Hakka, Hui, Xiang, Yue, Wu groups, etc.).

(Xiamen Hokkien) extremely; very; highly


界

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kreːds): semantic 田 (“field”) + phonetic 介 (OC *kreːds).
Compare perhaps Burmese ခြား (hkra:, “to keep separated”).


編

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pen, *peːn, *peːnʔ): semantic 糸 (“thread”) + phonetic 扁 (OC *pʰen, *benʔ, *peːnʔ, *beːnʔ) – to knit together a book (with thread).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *p(r)an/t ~ b(r)an/t (“to braid; to plait; to interweave”).

inh

(historical) cord for tying slips of inscribed bamboo or wood together


丁

→ Zhuang: ding

Pictogram (象形) – different theories exist:
* the head of a nail. The derivative 釘 is now used to represent this sense. This interpretation was formulated by Liu Xinyuan (劉心源), Lin Yiguang (林義光), and Wu Qichang (吳其昌).
* a head. The derivative 天 and 頂 is now used to represent this sense. Characters like 元 contains it as a semantic component. This is interpretation was formulated by Gao Hongjin (高鴻縉) and could be linked to the first interpretation ("head of a nail").
* a city wall. In ancient China, city walls were square-shaped. The derivative 成 and later 城 is now used to represent this sense. The character 正／征 contains it as a semantic component (but in 邑, the top component is 囗, not 丁). This interpretation was formulated by He Linyi (何琳儀).
See also 旦.

撈丁

捞丁

出前一丁 w:zh:出前一丁

(Hong Kong Cantonese) Short for 出前一丁 (“Demae Itcho”), a type of instant noodles.


章

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (章):
* → Japanese: 章(しょう) (shō)
* → Korean: 장(章) (jang)
* → Vietnamese: chương (章)

desc

→ English: Chang, Zhang, Cheung, Chiang, Cheang, Cheong

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): A chisel 辛 piercing a piece of untreated jade in the middle of the character (now 日). Originally meaning "to treat jade", likely the original character of 璋 or 彰.
STEDT compares the word to Proto-Kuki-Chin *klaaŋ-I, *klaan-II (“to shine; light; bright”); see 陽 (OC *laŋ, “sunshine”) for more.

章程

按章工作

rules; regulations; constitution; charter

章動

章动

[The cycle of] nineteen years constitute one zhang. Four zhang make one bu, which is seventy-six years.

c. early 3rd century, Zhao Shuang (趙爽), editor. Zhoubi Suanjing (《周髀算經》)

Shíjiǔ suì wéi yī zhāng. Sì zhāng wèi yī bù, qīshíliù suì.

十九歲為一章。四章為一蔀，七十六歲。

十九岁为一章。四章为一蔀，七十六岁。

(Chinese astronomy) the cycle of 19 years (approximate common multiple for the synodic month and tropical year, similar to the Metonic cycle)

章子怡


激

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kleːwɢs, *kleːwɢ): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 敫 (OC *kleːwɢs, *ɢlewɢ, *kleːwɢ) – (of water) to swash.


烈

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *red): phonetic 列 (OC *red) + semantic 灬 (“fire”).


最

/t͡su̯eɪ̯⁵¹/

/t͡su̯eɪ̯⁵¹/

Originally 㝡, phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zloːds): semantic 宀 (“roof”) + phonetic 取 (OC *sʰloːʔ, *sʰloʔ) – "to gather". Later 二 was added as distinguishing marks to disambiguate the character for the meaning "the most". The top components have corrupted into 冃 in the modern form.

Han compound

最佳


近

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡɯnʔ, *ɡɯns): semantic 辶 (“walk”) + phonetic 斤 (OC *kɯn, *kɯns) – to be near something.
Karlgren (1933) relates 近 (OC *ɡɯnʔ, *ɡɯns) to 幾 (OC *kɯl, “imminent”).
近 (OC *ɡɯns, “to come near to; to approach”) is the exoactive/causative derivation of 近 (OC *ɡɯnʔ, “to be near”) (Schuessler, 2007).
Compare Proto-Vietic *t-kəɲ, whence Vietnamese gần (“near”).

och-l

近千人

年近四十

夕陽無限好，只是近黃昏。

夕阳无限好，只是近黄昏。


六

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (六):
* → Japanese: 六(ろく) (roku)
* → Korean: 육/륙(六) (yuk/ryuk)
* → Vietnamese: lục (六)

desctree

→ Proto-Tai: *krokᴰ (“six”)
Northern Tai
Bouyei: rogt
Tai Do: hốc
Zhuang: roek, loeg
Central Tai
Tày: hốc
Nùng: róc
Nong Zhuang: choak
Proto-Southwestern Tai: *xrokᴰ¹ˢ
Thai: หก (hòk)
Northern Thai: ᩉᩫ᩠ᨠ
Lao: ຫົກ (hok)
Lü: ᦷᦠᧅ (ḣok)
Tai Dam: ꪶꪬꪀ
Shan: ႁူၵ်း (húuk)
Tai Nüa: ᥞᥨᥐᥱ (hǒk)
Aiton: ꩭုက် (huk)
Phake: ꩭုက် (huk)
Ahom: 𑜍𑜤𑜀𑜫 (ruk)

Pictogram (象形) – perhaps a shed. Originally using the similar-sounding word 廬 (OC *ra, “shed, cabin”) to represent the concept “six” (Liu Xinglong). Alternatively, it may be an ancient counting symbol.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-k-ruk (“six”).

(printing) small text; The size of type between 小五 (xiǎowǔ, “little 5”) and 小六 (xiǎoliù, “little 6”), standardized as 7½ point.


九

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (九):
* → Japanese: 九(く) (ku); 九(きゅう) (kyū)
* → Korean: 구(九) (gu)
* → Vietnamese: cửu (九)

desctree

→ Proto-Tai: *kɤwꟲ (“nine”)
Northern Tai:
Bouyei: guz
Zhuang: gouj
Saek: กู̂
Tai Do: cau
Central Tai:
Caolan: cáu
Nùng: càu
Tày: cẩu
Wenma-Southwestern Tai:
Sapa-Southwestern Tai:
Proto-Southwestern Tai:
Thai: เก้า (gâao)
Northern Thai: ᨠᩮᩢ᩶ᩣ
Lao: ເກົ້າ (kao)
Lü: ᦂᧁᧉ (k̇aw²)
Tai Dam: ꪹꪀ꫁ꪱ (cảu)
Shan: ၵဝ်ႈ (kāo)
Tai Laing: ကႍဝ်
Tai Nüa: ᥐᥝᥲ (kàw)
Ahom: 𑜀𑜧 (kaw)

/t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕi̯əu̯⁴¹/

/t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕi̯əu̯⁴¹/

Characters in the same phonetic series (九) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – a stylized hand, with bent wrist/forearm (hence the hook stroke at lower right). Earlier forms resemble 手 (shǒu), 寸 (cùn). The original meaning of the glyph was “elbow”, which is now written 肘 (OC *tkuʔ).
After the meaning “elbow” was forgotten, 九 was taken to symbolize a fist tightening to bump up against something; thus, there is a metaphorical bumping up of nine against ten, which is the last number when counting on one's fingers.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d/s-kəw. Compare Tibetan དགུ (dgu).

Han etyl

In the first and the second nine-day period, one should not take out one's hand; / In the third and the fourth nine-day period, the ice is thick enough to stand.

“The Nine Nine-Day Periods Song”, a folk song

Yī jiǔ èr jiǔ bù chū shǒu, sān jiǔ sì jiǔ bīng shàng zǒu.

一九二九不出手，三九四九冰上走。

(weather) each of the nine nine-day periods from the winter solstice


造

造詣

造诣


七

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (七):
* → Japanese: 七(しち) (shichi); 七(しつ) (shitsu)
* → Korean: 칠(七) (chil)
* → Vietnamese: thất (七)

→ Ai-Cham: sit⁷

desctree

→ Proto-Tai: *cetᴰ
Northern Tai
Bouyei: xadt
Tai Do: chết
Zhuang: caet
Central Tai
Nong Zhuang: jiat
Tày: chết
Southwestern Tai
Thai: เจ็ด (jèt)
Lao: ເຈັດ (chet)
Lü: ᦵᦈᧆ (ṫsed)
Tai Dam: ꪹꪊꪸꪒ
Shan: ၸဵတ်း (tsáet)
Tai Nüa: ᥓᥥᥖᥱ (tsět)
Tai Laing: ၸဵတ်
Ahom: 𑜋𑜢𑜄𑜫 (chit)

Characters in the same phonetic series (七) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – a vertical stroke and a horizontal stroke bisecting each other – original character of 切 (OC *sn̥ʰiːds, *sn̥ʰiːd, “to cut”).
The top-most horizontal stroke is done from left to right. The vertical stroke and bottom-most horizontal stroke are done as one stroke, from top-left to bottom-right.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ni-s (“seven”).

Han etyl

(printing) agate: The size of type between 小六 (xiǎoliù, “little 6”) and 八 (bā, “8”), standardized as 5½ point.


五

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (五):
* → Japanese: 五(ご) (go)
* → Korean: 오(五) (o)
* → Vietnamese: ngũ (五)

desctree

→ Proto-Tai: *haːꟲ (“five”)
Northern Tai
Bouyei: hac
Saek: ฮ̂า
Tai Do: ha
Zhuang: haj
Central Tai
Nùng: hà
Tày: hả
Southwestern Tai
Ahom: 𑜑𑜡 (hā)
Lao: ຫ້າ (hā)
Lü: ᦠᦱᧉ (ḣaa²)
Northern Thai: ᩉ᩶ᩣ
Shan: ႁႃႈ (hāa)
Tai Dam: ꪬ꫁ꪱ
Tai Nüa: ᥞᥣᥲ (hàa)
Thai: ห้า (hâa)

Originally written 𠄡, consisting of 㐅 with a bar on the top and bottom. One hypothesis explains that this may have meant five because when counting on a single hand, one first counts to five and then crosses back the other way to ten.
In 韋, the upper component (𫝀) is the stylization of a footprint, hence it is similar but unrelated to 五.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *l/b-ŋa (“five”).

a surname. Wu (mainland China, Taiwan), Ng (Hong Kong)


萬

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (萬):
* → Japanese: 万(まん) (man, “ten thousand”); 万(ばん) (ban)
* → Korean: 만(萬) (man, “ten thousand”)
* → Vietnamese: vạn (萬, “ten thousand”)

desc

→ Bouyei: faanh (“ten thousand”), Wanq (surname)

→ Proto-Hmong: *wi̯aŋꟲ (“ten thousand”)

→ Kavalan: ban (“ten thousand”)

→ Khmer: ម៉ឺន (məɨn), ហ្មឺន (məɨn, “ten thousand; official rank”)

→ Lao: ໝື່ນ (mư̄n), ຫມື່ນ (mư̄n, “ten thousand; official rank”)

→ Middle Korean: 즈믄 (cumun, “thousand”)

→ Middle Mongol: ᠲᠦᠮᠡᠨ (tümen, “ten thousand”)

→ English: tumen (“an army unit of 10,000 soldiers, among the ancient Mongols”)

Khalkha Mongolian: ᠲᠦᠮᠡ (tüme) / түм (tüm)

→ Persian: تومان (tumân)

→ English: toman (“former currency of Iran”)

→ Russian: Тюмень (Tjumenʹ, “Tyumen”)

→ English: Tyumen (“city in Russia”)

→ Shan: မိုၼ်ႇ (mùen, “ten thousand”)

→ Thai: หมื่น (mʉ̀ʉn, “ten thousand; official rank”)

→ Proto-Tocharian:

Tocharian A: tmāṃ (“ten thousand”)

Tocharian B: t₍ᵤ₎māne (“ten thousand, a myriad”)

→ Proto-Tungusic:

Manchu: ᡨᡠᠮᡝᠨ (tumen, “ten thousand”)

zh-l

→ Chinese: 圖們／图们 (Túmén, “Tumen, city in China”), 圖們江／图们江 (Túmén Jiāng, “Tumen River, boundary river between China, North Korea and Russia”)

→ English: Tumen (“city in China”)

→ Korean: 도문 (圖們, Domun, “Tumen”)

desc

→ Middle Korean: 투먼〮가ᇰ (Thwùmén-kàng, “Tumen River”)

→ Korean: 두만강 (豆滿江, Duman'gang, “Tumen River”)

→ Proto-Turkic: *tümen (“ten thousand; an infinitely large number”)

Turkish: tümen (“ten thousand”)

→ Vietnamese: muôn (𨷈, “ten thousand; all, many”), man (“ten thousand”)

→ Zhuang: fanh (“ten thousand”)

Pictogram (象形) – scorpion. This character's original meaning has been lost, and the derivative 蠆 (OC *m̥ʰraːds) refers to the original word.
; “scorpion”
; “religious dance; sorcery”
; “myriad; ten thousand”

万
㸘
𤍚
𢁭
𥝄
𥝅
𬺳

兩萬元

两万元

一百萬

一百万

four hundred million compatriots (the population of China from 1910s to 1940s)

四萬萬同胞

四万万同胞

萬歲

万岁


四

Numbers in Chinese culture#Four
Qin dynasty
Spring and Autumn period
Western Zhou

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (四):
* → Japanese: 四(し) (shi)
* → Korean: 사(四) (sa)
* → Vietnamese: tứ (四)

Wutunhua: se

desctree

→ Proto-Tai: *siːᴮ (“four”)
Northern Tai
Bouyei: sis
Tai Do: xì
Zhuang: seiq
Central Tai
Nong Zhuang: siq
Nùng: slỉ
Tày: slí
Proto-Southwestern Tai: *siːᴮ
Thai: สี่ (sìi)
Northern Thai: ᩈᩦ᩵
Lao: ສີ່ (sī)
Phake: ꩬီ (sī)
Lü: ᦉᦲᧈ (ṡii¹)
Tai Dam: ꪎꪲ꪿
Shan: သီႇ (sìi)
Tai Laing: ꩬီ
Tai Nüa: ᥔᥤᥱ (sǐ)
Khamti: ꩬီ
Ahom: 𑜏𑜣 (sī)
Aiton: ꩬီ (sī)

→ Vietnamese: tư (“four”)

The word "four" was written as 亖 (sì) before Western Zhou and 四 (sì) appeared in late Spring and Autumn period. This alternative form was used to prevent confusion of 亖 (sì) and 二 (“two”) or 三 (“three”) in vertical writing. It was standardized in Qin dynasty.
The bronzeware style of the character featured a repositioning of those four lines inside 口 (kǒu); this later evolved into the combination used today of 口 (kǒu, “mouth”) and 八 (bā, “divide”) which meant a dispersal of breath. It could thus be said that four is a borrowed meaning for this character. The original sense is preserved in 呬 (OC *hrids), by adding an extra 口. Compare this character with 只 and 曰.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b-ləj.

肆
亖
皿
龱
𠁤
𠃢
𦉭

(printing) English; The size of type between 小四 (little 4) and 小三 (little 3), standardized as 14 point.


三

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (三):
* → Japanese: 三(さん) (san)
* → Korean: 삼(三) (sam)
* → Vietnamese: tam (三)

→ Proto-Tai: *saːmᴬ (“three”)

Lao: ສາມ (sām)

Thai: สาม (sǎam)

Zhuang: sam

Characters in the same phonetic series (三) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogram (指事) - three parallel strokes. Compare with 一, one stroke meaning “one”, 二, two strokes meaning “two”, and 亖, four strokes meaning “four”.
Triplication of 一 (“one”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-sum.
Pronunciation in Early Middle Chinese should be *srim, but actually is *sam, with a non-retroflex initial consonant. This irregular development should be due by analogy with the initial of number four in EMC, *sijH.

Han etyl

叄/叁/參/参
𠫰/𠬅/𠬄
弎
𢦘

(Mainland China, slang, neologism) the other woman; the other man


刀

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (刀):
* → Japanese: 刀(とう) (tō)
* → Korean: 도(刀) (do)
* → Vietnamese: đao (刀)

→ Khmer: ដាវ (daaw)

→ Vietnamese: dao

→ White Hmong: tob

→ English: dao

Pictogram (象形) – a knife. The original form was 𠚣, which can be found in a variant of 利, 𥝢 (in turn used on the top of the character 黎).
Unclear. Here are several proposals:
* Schuessler (2007) considers this to be an area word or a word widely borrowed from Chinese into other languages; compare Proto-Karen *ʔdɔ (“knife”), Jingpho [script needed] (n³¹-do³¹, “short knife”), Proto-Vietic *-taːw (“knife”), Bulo Stieng taaw;
* Stephen Baron posits Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ta-w, with a sparsely attested suffix *-w retained in Sinitic yet lost in Tibeto-Burman, yielding Proto-Tibeto-Burman *s-ta (“knife; axe; sword”); compare Tibetan སྟ་རེ (sta re, “axe; hatchet”), Burmese ဓား (dha:, “knife; sword”), Proto-Loloish *ta² (“knife”) (STEDT);
* Starostin derives it from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tā̆w ~ *dā̆w, comparing it to Tibetan སྟེའུ (ste'u, “carpenter's axe, adze”) and Jingpho nhtu (“sword”).

cog

knife; blade (Classifier: 把 m c g h j mb md w x; 張／张 c h; 叢／丛 mn; 支 mn mn-t)


森

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): Triplication of 木 (“tree”), to suggest a large number (compare 三) of trees such as one would find in a forest. Compare 林 (*ɡ·rɯm).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ram (“jungle; forest; country; field”) (STEDT). Schuessler (2007) suggests that it may be an intensive derivation of 林 (*ɡ·rɯm, “forest”), perhaps influenced by parallels in Austroasiatic, such as Old Khmer sarāma, sarāṃ (“a tract of stunted vegetation”), derived from rām (“inundated forest along a watercourse”). Alternatively, Mei (2012) suggests that the prefix *s- has a denominative function.

inh

(Malaysia, Singapore) Short for 森美蘭／森美兰 (Sēnměilán, “Negeri Sembilan”).


神

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (神):
* → Japanese: 神(しん) (shin)
* → Korean: 신(神) (sin)
* → Vietnamese: thần (神)

→ Chadong: sən²

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hlin): semantic 示 (“god; deity”) + phonetic 申 (OC *hlin, “lightning”).
Originally 申 in the oracle bone script and in some bronze inscriptions. The ancients feared the unpredictable lightning and considered it to be divine or of divine origin. 示 was added for specialization.
Possibly Sino-Tibetan; compare Chepang ग्लीङ्ह (gliŋh, “spirit, mind, soul”) (Schuessler, 2007).

cog-lite

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

新標點和合本 (Chinese Union Version with New Punctuation), 創世記 (Genesis) 1:3

Shén shuō: “Yào yǒu guāng”, jiù yǒu le guāng.

神說：「要有光」，就有了光。

神说：「要有光」，就有了光。

God has taken his place in the divine council; …

和合本 (Héhéběn) (Chinese Union Version), 詩篇 (Psalms) 82:1

Shén zhàn zài yǒuquánlìzhě de huì zhōng,......

神站在有權力者的會中，……

神站在有权力者的会中，……

(religion) god; deity; spirit
(Protestantism, specifically) God


丐

Characters in the same phonetic series (丐) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Corruption of 匄. Its original meaning is unknown; perhaps it was "to damage".


年

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (年):
* → Japanese: 年(ねん) (nen)
* → Korean: 년(年) (nyeon)
* → Vietnamese: niên (年)

Wutunhua: nian

→ Zhuang: nienz

In the oracle bone script and early bronze inscriptions, it was originally 秂, an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *niːŋ): semantic 禾 (“wheat; grain”) + phonetic 人 (OC *njin, “person”) – a person carrying wheat on his back – harvest. In bronze inscriptions after the Western Zhou period, a stroke was often added to 人 to give 千 (OC *sn̥ʰiːn), which still acted as a phonetic component, thus getting (秊).
The current form is inherited from the clerical script, where libian (隸變) has occurred. See also 重, in which a person is carrying a bag.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ni(ː)ŋ ~ s-nik (“year”).

inh

秂
秊
䄹
𰨝
𠡦
𠦅
𠦚
䄭
𦼌
𠬋
𠫺

過年

过年

年糕

年貨

年货

年羹堯

年羹尧


乍

Pictogram (象形) – an axe chopping wood. Original form of 柞.


享

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (享):
* → Vietnamese: hưởng (享)

An ancestral shrine. See also 亯 and 亨. Unrelated to 郭.

Formerly, in the time of Tang the Successful, even from the Qiang and Di, they dared not but come with their offerings; [their chiefs] dared not but come to seek the king's acknowledgment: such is the regular rule of Shang.'

Xī yǒu chéng Tāng, zì bǐ Dǐ Qiāng, mò gǎn bùlái xiǎng, mò gǎn bùlái wáng, yuē Shāng shì cháng.

昔有成湯、自彼氐羌、莫敢不來享、莫敢不來王、曰商是常。

昔有成汤、自彼氐羌、莫敢不来享、莫敢不来王、曰商是常。

(obsolete) to offer (to a superior); to present; to pay (a tribute)


丟

Old Turkic: az- (to be aroused) (calque)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 一 (“one (item)”) + 去 (“to go; to remove”).


互

Ideogram (指事): 牙 and a distinguishing mark. Early texts often used 互 and 牙 interchangeably.

共榮互利

to benefit mutually and prosper together

Highways of traffic ran north and south; sounds of crowing cocks and barking dogs were heard around.

Tao Yuanming The Peach Blossom Spring (桃花源記) (trans. Herbert Allen Giles)

huāng lù ài jiāotōng, jī quǎn hù míng fèi

荒路曖交通，鷄犬互鳴吠

荒路暧交通，鸡犬互鸣吠


仉

Corruption of 𤓯, an ancient form of 掌. In its current form, the left part became 亻, while the right became 几.

仉氏


丞

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 卩 (“kneeling person”) + 廾 (“both hands”) + 凵 (“hole”) – to rescue a person from a hole. Compare 承.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-tjaŋ (“upper part; rise; raise”).

inh

Original form of 拯 (zhěng, “to rescue”).


丙

→ Zhuang: bingj

Various theories:
* Pictogram (象形) – shoulders (Shuowen).
* Pictogram (象形) – the tail of a fish (Erya). See also 再.
* Pictogram (象形) - part of a chariot, as seen in the original form of 更.
* Pictogram (象形) – pedestal.
* Pictogram (象形) – small table.
* Original form of 柄 (OC *praŋʔ, *praŋs).
Whatever its original sense may be, it has been lost and replaced by its early use as a heavenly stem. See also the original version of 更 (< 㪅).
Baxter and Sagart (2014) note the phonological relationship between 丙 (OC *praŋʔ) and 兩 (OC *p.raŋʔ, “a pair”); how these two are graphically related is noted in Baxter (1992). Smith (2011) suggests that these two words are not only phonologically similar but also etymologically related, with 丙, meaning "couplet" or "bivalve", referring to an asterism.


北

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (北):
* → Japanese: 北(ほく) (hoku)
* → Korean: 북(北) (buk)
* → Vietnamese: bắc (北)

→ Japanese: 北(ペー) (pē, “north wind (mahjong tile)”)

Characters in the same phonetic series (北) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) – two men back to back. Originally meaning “back”; the character 背 (OC *pɯːɡs, *bɯːɡs) refers to the original word.
Compare 化, 比, 卬, and 尼.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ba (“to carry (on back), shoulder”).
The sense of “north” is derived from “back (of body)”: “back” → “to turn the back to; to retreat” → “north”.
The ancient Chinese value the southern direction and houses are traditionally oriented along a north–south axis, as evident in the fengshui theory and in the orientation of buildings in Chinese Neolithic sites. North is the direction the back is oriented to when the person is facing south.
Compare the graphical origin of 南 (OC *nuːm, “south”) (Sagart, 1988).

inh-lite

北移

北京 ― Běijīng ― Beijing (literally, “northern capital”)


仿

characters written after a calligraphy model


份

→ Thai: หุ้น (hûn)

一份客飯／一份客饭 ― yī fèn kèfàn


丈

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 十 (“ten”) + 又 (“hand”) – ten chi (尺) is one zhang (丈). Similar but unrelated to 支.
;"gentleman, older man, husband"
;"unit of measurement"

Han compound

The zhang, a traditional Chinese unit of length equal to 10 chi (尺)

The mainland zhang, a unit of length standardized in 1984 as 3 ¹/₃ meters.

The Taiwanese zhang, a unit of length standardized as 3 ¹/₃₃ meters, identical to the Japanese jō.

The Hong Kong jeuhng, standardized as 3.71475 meters.


亦

Ideogram (指事) – a human figure (compare 大) with water falling from them (roughly from arm pits). Original form of 腋 (OC *laːɡ, “armpit”) or 液 (OC *laːɡ, “liquid”).
Cognate with Mizo ve (“also; too”), Mizo vêk (“again; over again”) (Schuessler, 2007).

To read something again after having read it

讀仔一遍亦讀一遍。

读仔一遍亦读一遍。


也

Pictogram (象形) — A child (子) with their mouth (口) open crying. The original form of 嗁 (OC *l'eː, “to cry”) (Ji Xusheng, 2004). The child's arms were removed during bronze inscriptions and the two components fused together in the modern form.
Other various possible explanations include:
* The traditional glyph origin given in Shuowen explains the character to be a pictogram (象形) of female genitalia.
* It was once interchangeable with 它 and may have originated as a simplification. Hence, it could be the pictogram of a snake.
* It may have been created to represent the modal particle (語氣詞／语气词 (yǔqìcí)). In some bronze inscriptions, it appears to be a mouth (口) with a curved line descending from it to represent air coming out of the mouth.
* It is possibly a pictogram (象形) of an ancient funnel or wash basin. It may be an early form of 匜.
* It may have signified a big-headed scorpion with its legs flattened, signifying as something very "flat" or "stretched out".
; classical sentence-ending copulative particle, topic particle
Unclear. Possibly Sino-Tibetan, connectable to Tibetan ལ (la), which is often used as a marker (for oblique locative, dative, possessor in constructions with a copula verb, etc.) but also a topicalizer like ནི (ni, “as for”) (Schuessler, 2007).
On the other hand, Pulleyblank (1995) notes the similarity with anteclassical 唯 (OC *ɢʷi) as a copula and a topicalizer.
; also, too, as well

zh-l

語氣詞／语气词 (yǔqìcí)

𠃟
𦫴
𦬀
𠔄
𠃒
啊
叶
亦

我亦人也。

In the west there are great mountains, which are the tallest in the world.

Qí xī yǒu dà shān, tiānxià zhì gāo zhě yě.

其西有大山，天下至高者也。

Is he a noble person? He is a noble person.

The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE

君子人與？君子人也。

君子人与？君子人也。

Teng is a small kingdom, between Qi and Chu. Should we serve Qi? Or Should we serve Chu?

Téng xiǎoguó yě, jiān yú Qí Chǔ. Shì Qí hū? Shì Chǔ hū?

滕小國也，間於齊楚。事齊乎？事楚乎？

滕小国也，间于齐楚。事齐乎？事楚乎？

From this we may see that if somebody lacks a commiserating heart, they are not a human being.

Yóushì guān zhī, wú cèyǐn zhī xīn, fēi rén yě.

由是觀之，無惻隱之心，非人也。

由是观之，无恻隐之心，非人也。

Though the myriad things are many, their government is one.

萬物雖多，其治一也。

万物虽多，其治一也。

(Classical) Particle used at the end of copular constructions involving a nominal predicate; to be (although not grammatically a verb)

Life and death are [matters of] destiny. That there is the constancy of night and dawn is [a matter of] Heaven.

Sǐ shēng, mìng yě, qí yǒu yè dàn zhī cháng, tiān yě.

死生，命也，其有夜旦之常，天也。

That Jie and Zhou lost the empire was because they lost their people; that they lost their people was because they lost their hearts.

Jié Zhòu zhī shī tiānxià yě, shī qí mín yě; shī qí mín zhě, shī qí xīn yě.

桀紂之失天下也，失其民也；失其民者，失其心也。

桀纣之失天下也，失其民也；失其民者，失其心也。

Often used more loosely than the English copula to indicate a cause or relation.

回也，不愚。

As for a man's life, is it hazy like this all along? Or is it mine alone which is hazy, and there are others who are not?

Rén zhī shēng yě, gù ruò shì máng hū! Qí wǒ dú máng, ér rén yì yǒu bù máng zhě hū!

人之生也，固若是芒乎！其我獨芒，而人亦有不芒者乎！

人之生也，固若是芒乎！其我独芒，而人亦有不芒者乎！

Generally concerning the difficulty of carrying out the law, not only the imperial realm but kingdoms are also [faced with] this.

Fán fǎshù zhī nán xíng yě, bù dú wànchéng, qiānchéng yì rán.

凡法術之難行也，不獨萬乘，千乘亦然。

凡法术之难行也，不独万乘，千乘亦然。

(Classical) Topic-marking particle used at the end of noun phrases.

When a man is capped [at the age of twenty], his father instructs him; when a girl is married, her mother instructs her.

Zhàngfū zhī guàn yě, fù mìng zhī; nǚzǐ zhī jià yě, mǔ mìng zhī.

丈夫之冠也，父命之；女子之嫁也，母命之。

When the Three Dynasties gained the empire, it was through benevolence; when they lost the empire, it was through lack of benevolence.

Sāndài zhī dé tiānxià yě yǐ rén, qí shī tiānxià yě yǐ bù rén.

三代之得天下也以仁，其失天下也以不仁。

Duke Zhao of Lu was once bereaved of his mother when he was a child, and had a foster mother who was kind. When she died, the Duke could not bear it.

Xīzhě, Lǔ Zhāogōng shào sàng qí mǔ, yǒu címǔ liáng. Jí qí sǐ yě, gōng fú rěn yě.

昔者，魯昭公少喪其母，有慈母良。及其死也，公弗忍也。

昔者，鲁昭公少丧其母，有慈母良。及其死也，公弗忍也。

when, at the time of; especially commonly used for temporal topics, often as 及其……也.

Meng Wu Bo asked. "Is Zilu benevolent?" The Master said, "I do not know."

Mèng Wǔ Bó wèn: “Zǐlù rén hū?” Zǐ yuē: “Bù zhī yě.”

孟武伯問：「子路仁乎？」子曰：「不知也。」

孟武伯问：「子路仁乎？」子曰：「不知也。」

In that age, they did not find value in sturdy chariots and good horses; they did not find pleasure in carvings and adornments.

Dāngshì zhī shí, jiānchē liángmǎ bù zhī guì yě, kèlòu wéncǎi bù zhī xǐ yě.

當是之時，堅車良馬不知貴也，刻鏤文采不知喜也。

当是之时，坚车良马不知贵也，刻镂文采不知喜也。

Everybody knows the use in being useful, but nobody knows the use in being useless.

Rén jiē zhī yǒuyòng zhī yòng, ér mò zhī wúyòng zhī yòng yě.

人皆知有用之用，而莫知無用之用也。

人皆知有用之用，而莫知无用之用也。

continuous aspect
continuous aspect#English

(Classical) Verb phrase-final particle marking continuous aspect, especially common for assertions of unchanging fact.


云

(～母) (Chinese linguistics) the Middle Chinese initial of 云 (MC hjun), equivalent to the 3rd 等 (děng) of the initial 喻 (MC yuH)


久

/t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕi̯əu̯⁴¹/

/t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕi̯əu̯⁴¹/

Used interchangeably with 氒 in oracle bone script. Likely a pictogram (象形) of an arrow tip.
Possibly Sino-Tibetan. Compare Bantawa [script needed] (kʰokpa, “old man”) (Sagart, 2017d), which STEDT derives from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kwak (“old”).
舊 (OC *N-kʷəʔ-s) may be a derivative (Baxter and Sagart, 2014). See there for more.


並

From the clerical script (隸書) of 竝 (OC *beːŋʔ), originally depicting two people standing side-by-side.

(～母) (Chinese linguistics) the Middle Chinese initial of 並 (MC bengX)


亭

The Kangxi radical of the tower 京 (or 髙 > 高 according to its variants) with the phonetic component 丁 (nail). In the variant 𠅘, the body of the tower is more recognizable.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m/s-diŋ (“settled; fixed; established”), whence Proto-Lolo-Burmese *m-diŋ¹ ⪤ ʔ-diŋ¹ (“settled; come to rest”) and 定 (OC *deːŋs) (STEDT). Schuessler (2007) also compares 亭 (OC *deːŋ) to Mizo ding (“to stand; to stop; to halt”) and Lepcha ᰌᰧᰵ (diŋ, “to be erect”).

亭長

亭长

Dàshuài shí lǐ yī tíng, tíng yǒu zhǎng. Shí tíng yī xiāng, xiāng yǒu sān lǎo, yǒuzhì, sèfū, yóujiào.

大率十里一亭，亭有長。十亭一鄉，鄉有三老、有秩、嗇夫、游徼。

大率十里一亭，亭有长。十亭一乡，乡有三老、有秩、啬夫、游徼。

(historical) a local administrative agency during the Qin and Han dynasties


乘

Borrowed from Tocharian B klenke (“vehicle”) or Tocharian B klānk, Tocharian A klānk (“to ride, travel (by vehicle)”).

bor

大乘


仍

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (仍):
* → Vietnamese: nhưng (仍)

→ Vietnamese: những

→ Thai: ยัง (yang)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *njɯŋ): semantic 亻 + phonetic 乃 (OC *nɯːʔ).
; “to be done repeatedly; as before”


丘

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯⁵⁵/

Characters in the same phonetic series (丘) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogram (指事) – hill. Earlier form closer to 丠, as in 虛 (OC *kʰa, *qʰa). Compare 山. Unrelated to 兵 and 斤.
Wang (1982) relates this word to 墟 (xū) "ruin-mound". However, Schuessler (2007) disagrees.
Schuessler considers two homophones 丘, "hill, mound" and 丘 "village, district" to be the same word as settlements were often built on elevated grounds (for a parallel see 京 (jīng)) and traces this word's etymology to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r/g-wa (“village”); within Sinitic, 丘 (OC *kʰʷɯ) is cognate with 里 (OC *rɯʔ) "village" and 街 (OC *kreː, *kreː) "road crossing, street"; outsides Sinitic, cognate with Mizo khua (“village”), Lai khûa (“village, cosmos”), and Burmese ရွာ (rwa, “village”) (STEDT).

Han etyl

丠
㐀
𡊣
㘳
坵
𠀈
𠀉
𠀌

丘成桐


何

→ English: He, Ho

→ Tagalog: Ho (via Hokkien)

In the oracle bone script, a pictogram (象形): a man carrying something on their shoulder – the original form of 荷 (OC *ɡaːlʔ, “to carry”).
The object being carried may have been 戈 (gē), in which case the character is also an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ): semantic 人 (“person”) + phonetic 戈 (OC *koːl, “dagger-axe”).
In the bronze inscriptions, some forms of the character were phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ): semantic 人 (“person”) + phonetic 可 (OC *kʰaːlʔ), from which the modern form derives.
Cognate with the following interrogative pronouns:
* 胡 (OC *ɡaː, “what; why”)
* 奚 (OC *ɡeː, “what; why; where”)
* 曷 (OC *ɡaːd, “why”)
* 盍 (OC *ɡaːb, “why not”): from the fusion of 何不 (OC *ɡaːl pɯ, “why not”)
In Sino-Tibetan, cognate with Tibetan ག་ན (ga na, “where; how”), Tibetan ག་རུ (ga ru, “to where”) (Schuessler, 2007).
STEDT, on the other hand, compares 何 (OC *ɡaːlʔ) to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ka (“which; like; deictic; interrogative”), to which 幾 (OC *kɯlʔ, “how many”) and 豈 (OC *ŋ̊ʰɯlʔ, “how”) are also compared.

inh

何處／何处

何日

伯夷、叔齊何人也？

伯夷、叔齐何人也？

The king said, "What is this so-called 'Morning Clouds'?"

王曰：「何謂朝雲？」

王曰：「何谓朝云？」

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

大王來何操？

大王来何操？

(literary, interrogative pronoun asking for the specification of an identity, quantity, quality, etc. of something) what; which

interrogative pronoun asking for the specification of an identity; quantity; quality; interrogative pronoun asking for the specification of an identity; quantity; quality

何去何從／何去何从

Being loyal to the state yet still abandoned, where can I (Chen Zhen) go if I do not go to Chu?

Zhōng qiě jiàn qì, zhěn bù zhī chǔ hé guī hū?

忠且見棄，軫不之楚何歸乎？

忠且见弃，轸不之楚何归乎？

If an intellectual living in the world does not feel happy, where can he go and not feel anxious?

Shì shēng yú shì, shǐ qí zhōng bù zìdé, jiāng hé wǎng ér fēi bìng?

士生於世，使其中不自得，將何往而非病？

士生于世，使其中不自得，将何往而非病？

何必

何不

夫子何哂由也？

Why do you worry about being not famous?

Liu Yiqing (editor), A New Account of the Tales of the World, 5ᵗʰ century CE

亦何憂令名不彰邪？

亦何忧令名不彰邪？

(literary, interrogative pronoun asking for reason, manner, etc. of an action) why; how

何應欽／何应钦 ― Hé Yìngqīn ― He Yingqin (Kuomintang general)

何鴻燊／何鸿燊 [Cantonese] ― ho⁴ hung⁴ san¹ [Jyutping] ― Stanley Ho (Hong Kong billionaire)


何

Original form of 呵 (“to scold; to criticise; to denounce”).


心

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (心):
* → Japanese: 心(しん) (shin)
* → Korean: 심(心) (sim)
* → Vietnamese: tâm (心)

→ Vietnamese: tim (“heart”)

→ Zhuang: sim

Pictogram (象形) – a heart, now highly stylized.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s(j)am-s.

Twenty-Eight Mansions
w:Twenty-Eight Mansions

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


乎

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢaː): semantic [Term?] (“wind; air”) + phonetic 丂 (OC *kʰluːʔ, “branch”) – original form of 呼 (OC *qʰaː, “to call; to cry”). Compare 兮 (OC *ɢeː).
; in; at; on

Han compound

A suffix placed after adjectives and adverbs to express praise or amazement.


且

Pictogram (象形). Multiple interpretations:
* A stone altar – original form of 祖 (OC *ʔsaːʔ).
* A sacrificial vessel used for chopping and holding meat, as viewed from above (Wang, 1923) – original form of 俎 (OC *ʔsraʔ).
* An erect penis, the symbol of the male ancestor (Guo, 1931) – original form of 祖 (OC *ʔsaːʔ).
In the oracle bones and bronze inscriptions, this character was commonly used as 祖 (OC *ʔsaːʔ); usage as 俎 (OC *ʔsraʔ) is not attested until the Warring States period in the bamboo script. See also the original version of 查.
; “and; also; almost; be going to”


仇

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡu): semantic 亻 (“person”) + phonetic 九 (OC *kuʔ) – spouse.


亨

(physics) Short for 亨利 (hēnglì, “henry”).


佞

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *neːŋs): phonetic 仁 (OC *njin) + semantic 女.

Han compound

talent (usually in the humble expression 不佞 (bùnìng))


估

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kaːʔ): semantic 亻 + phonetic 古 (OC *kaːʔ).

Han compound

高估 ― gāogū ― overestimate


仰

俯

antonym(s) of “to raise the head to look”

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋaŋʔ, *ŋaŋs): semantic 人 (“person”) + phonetic 卬 (OC *ŋaːŋ, *ŋaŋʔ).

Han compound

Used in official documents in the old days; shows deference to a superior, and hope to a subordinate.


仲

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *duŋs): semantic 亻 (“person”) + phonetic 中 (OC *tuŋ, *tuŋs, “middle”).
Derived from 中 (OC *tuŋ, *tuŋs, “middle”).

Han compound

superior and inferior, competition, comparison

伯仲

second, especially when referring to seniority of siblings. See usage notes of 伯.


丑

/ʈ͡ʂʰoʊ̯²¹⁴/

/ʈ͡ʂʰoʊ̯²¹⁴/

Pictogram (象形) – a hand or an animal claw. Phonetically borrowed to represent an earthly branch.
Smith (2010) proposes that 丑 graphically depicts the claw-like "final, narrow phase of the moon"; he glosses it as "thing that pinches > pincer" and groups it into a word-family which is based on 扭 (OC *nuʔ, *tnuʔ, “twist, pinch”) and also includes
* 手 (OC *hnjɯwʔ, “hand”);
* 杻 (OC *nuʔ, *n̥ʰuʔ) ~ 杽 (OC *n̥ʰɯwʔ, “manacle”), which equally uses 丑 (OC *n̥ʰuʔ) or 手 (OC *hnjɯwʔ) as phonophoric, as noted by Unger (1995) and Sagart (1999);
* 紐 (OC *nuʔ) ~ 鈕 (OC *nuʔ, “grip handle”), with which Shuowen glosses 丑 (OC *n̥ʰuʔ);
* 狃 (OC *nuʔ, *nus, “animal tracks”), suggested to mean "animals' fingers" by Sagart (1999).
Its association with the ox is from Austroasiatic (Mei, 1980; Norman, 1985; Ferlus, 2013); compare Proto-Vietic *c-luː (“water buffalo”), Proto-Mon-Khmer *krpiʔ ~ *krpiiw ~ *krpuʔ ~ *(kr)puh (“buffalo”), Proto-Austroasiatic *k.r.pu.y (“buffalo”).

cog

second of twelve earthly branches (地支)
(Chinese zodiac) ox (牛)

second of twelve earthly branches (地支)
ox (牛)


伐

Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China

Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong


乖

According to Xu Shen, 𦫳 together with 𠔁.


丹

Pictogram (象形) of a well or mine with cinnabar inside. It can also indicate "red cinnabar" used in dyeing clothes (e.g., 彤). The original version is 𠂁. See also the bottom part of 青 (< 𤯞).
Schuessler (2007) suggests a Kam-Tai origin, comparing it to Proto-Kam-Sui *h-lanꟲ (“red”). 矸, as in 丹矸, may be a variant; see there for more.
Alternatively, it may be from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *t(j)a-n ~ *tsa-n (“red”), whence Burmese တာ (ta, “very red”) (Matisoff, 2003; Hill, 2014); however, STEDT currently does not compare this to 丹.
Possibly related to 旃 (OC *tjan, “a plain red flag”), as well as 袒 (OC *daːnʔ, “to bare; to strip oneself naked to the waist”), as skin color is often associated with "red". See these entries for more.

och-l

𠂁
𠁿
𠕑
𢒈
㣋
㐤
𮯱


伸

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hlin): semantic 亻 (“man”) + phonetic 申 (OC *hlin).
STEDT derives the word from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tsjan ~ *dzjan (“to stretch out”), and compares Burmese ဆင်း (hcang:, “idem”), though the Old Chinese reconstructions make this somewhat problematic.


伍

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (伍):
* → Japanese: 伍(ご) (go)
* → Korean: 오(伍) (o)

(Hokkien dialect) Tagalog: Go

(Mandarin) Tagalog: Wu

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋaːʔ): semantic 亻 + phonetic 五 (OC *ŋaːʔ). Also ideogrammic compound (會意／会意).

Han compound

Wu Lien-teh (Malayan Chinese physician and epidemiologist)

伍連德

伍连德

伍家崗區

伍家岗区


南

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (南):
* → Japanese: 南(なん) (nan)
* → Okinawan: 南(なん) (nan)
* → Korean: 남(南) (nam)
* → Vietnamese: nam (南)

ja-r

→ Japanese: 南(ナン) (nan, “south wind (mahjong tile)”)

This character has been explained as a pictogram (象形) of a hanging percussion instrument, originally identical to the left side of 㱿. Under this hypothesis its borrowing for the word “south” is difficult to explain.
Sagart (1988) instead proposes that it is a pictogram of the front of a house. Archaeological evidence confirms that in antiquity, at least in some regions, houses were built to face south.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-nam (“sky, sun”) (STEDT; Schuessler (2007); Benedict (1972)); the south is traditionally associated with the sun & light, compare 陽 (OC *laŋ, “light, sun-lit south-side of a hill”).
: If so, cognate with Tibetan གནམ (gnam, “sky”), ནམ (nam, “night”), Tshangla ngam (“sun, noon, day, sky”), Chepang न्याम् (nyam, “sun, sunlight, storm-cloud, weather”).
Alternatively, Sagart (2004) relates this word to Old Chinese *nɨm (revised to *nˤ[ə]m in 2014) "belly, front of the body", further "south" to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-nam (“rib(s)”), as one term for one body-part often shifts its meaning to another body-part nearby.
: If so, 南 is cognate with 妊 (OC *njɯms, “to carry inside one's belly → to be pregnant”), 任 (OC *njɯm, *njɯms, “to carry a burden, especially in front of the body”), also 腩 (OC *nuːmʔ, “belly (of an ox)”), Southern Pumi nõ⁵⁵, Burmese နံရိုး (nam-rui:, “side of the body, rib”), and thus is a semantic counterpart to 北 (OC *pɯːɡ, “north”), which is related to 背 (OC *pɯːɡs, *bɯːɡs, “back of the body”).


但

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *daːn, *daːnʔ, *daːns): semantic 亻 (“person”) + phonetic 旦 (OC *taːns).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(d/t)a(n/j) (“single; one; whole; only”). Cognate with 單 (OC *taːn, “single”).


亮

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *raŋs): semantic 人 (“person”) + phonetic 京 (OC *kraŋ, “building; tower”). In the variant 𠅙, the body of the tower is more recognizable.
Part of an Austroasiatic word family; compare Khmer [script needed] (-rāṃṅa, “to be light; to be bright”) (Schuessler, 2007), from Proto-Mon-Khmer *raaŋʔ (“light; to shine”); as well as:
:* ស្រាំង (srang, “to be pale; to be colourless”) with 爽 (OC *sraŋʔ),
:* [script needed] (brāṅa, “to grow light (after dark)”) with 炳 (OC *praŋʔ).
:* បំព្រាង (bɑmpriəng, “to shed a pale light”) with 明 (OC *mraŋ).
Alternatively, STEDT compares it to Proto-Kuki-Chin *klaaŋ-I, *klaan-II (“to shine; light; bright”).


乳

Pictogram (象形): A kneeling woman holding and breastfeeding a child. The woman resembles the character 母.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-nəw.


佚

→ Proto-Turkic: *yit- (“to be lost”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *liɡ): semantic 人 (“man; person”) + phonetic 失 (OC *hliɡ)

Han compound

Alternative form of 逸 (yì)
to escape; to flee; to be reclusive


乞

Variant of 气 (OC *kʰɯds), distinguished to indicate a phonetically borrowed meaning “to beg”.
The top component of the character is unrelated to 旅, 伤, 复, 每 as well as 人.


促

→ Vietnamese: thúc

/t͡sʰiɔk̚³²/

/t͡sʰiɪk̚³²/

/t͡sʰiɔk̚³²/

/t͡sʰiɪk̚³²/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰoɡ): semantic 亻 + phonetic 足 (OC *ʔsoɡs, *ʔsoɡ).

Han compound

促膝


休

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 人 (“man”) + 木 (“tree”) – a man leaning against a tree, resting.

休·傑克曼

休·杰克曼

A transliteration of the English male given name Hugh


企

人 (“person”) + 止 (“foot”) – a person standing on tiptoes.


佇

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *daʔ): semantic 人 (“man”) + phonetic 宁 (OC *da, *daʔ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ta-t (“to put; to place”). Cognate with 著 (OC *tas, *taɡ, *daɡ), 署 (OC *djas) (Schuessler, 2007).

inh

伫
竚
𡀐
𥩽
貯
在
置
㑏


付

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 亻 (“person”) + 又 (“hand”) or ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 亻 (“person”) + 寸 (“hand”) – to deliver, to give to someone.


介

→ Proto-Tai: *klecꟲ

Proto-Southwestern Tai: *kletᴰ

Thai: เกล็ด (glèt)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 人 (“person”) + two marks encompassing, indicating "in between". Folk etymology interprets the two marks as two components of an armor.
; "to assist"


仁

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *njin): phonetic 人 (OC *njin) + semantic 二.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s/k-niŋ (“heart; brain; mind”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT). Cognate with Tangkhul Naga ning (“mind”), Manipuri ꯄꯨꯛꯅꯤꯡ (pookneeng, “heart; mind”), Kinnauri [script needed] (stiŋ, “heart”), Garo taning (“brain”), Ngochang Achang nhaiqlom (“heart”), Bisu นืงบา (nɨŋba, “heart”), Burmese အနှစ် (a.hnac, “kernel”). Possibly related to Tibetan ཉིང (nying, “pith, essence”) (Schuessler, 2007).
For a parallel semantic development, compare Tibetan སྙིང་རྗེ (snying rje, “compassion; kindness; mercy”), from Tibetan སྙིང (snying, “heart; mind”).

cog

殺身成仁

杀身成仁

Fan Chi asked about benevolence. The Master said, "It is to love all men."

樊遲問仁。子曰：「愛人。」

樊迟问仁。子曰：「爱人。」


伏

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 人 (“person”) + 犬 (“dog”) – meaning “prostrate”.
* A dog at the side of a person.
* A person adopting the position of a dog.


井

Pictogram (象形) – a square well, with supports on four sides.
Some forms have a stone inside the well, as in 丼.


俸

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *poːŋʔ, *boŋs): semantic 亻 (“person”) + phonetic 奉 (OC *boŋʔ).
Exopassive of 奉 (OC *boŋʔ, “to receive”), literally “that which is received” (Schuessler, 2007).


侵

According to Shuowen, an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 人 (“person”) + 帚 (“broom”) + 又 (“hand”) – a person with a broom in hand.
Two Sino-Tibetan etymologies are possible:
* Cognate with Tibetan སྟིམ་པ (stim pa, “to enter; to penetrate”), Tibetan ཐིམ་པ (thim pa, “to dissolve; to disappear; absorbed”), though the two terms agree just as well with 浸 (OC *ʔsims, *sʰim) (Schuessler, 2007), or
* From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *syim (“sweep”) (STEDT); cognate with Anong śim (“to sweep”), Lhao Vo śam (“to sweep”), Burmese သိမ်း (sim:, “to gather in; to take possession of”). Note the graph 侵 shows a broom (帚) which may carry a semantic function (Schuessler, 2007).

cog

侵略

In this year, in spring, the marquis of Qi, with the forces of many of the princes, made an incursion into Cai.

Commentary of Zuo, c. 4ᵗʰ century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Sì nián chūn, Qí hóu yǐ zhūhóu zhī shī qīn Cài.

四年春，齊侯以諸侯之師侵蔡。

四年春，齐侯以诸侯之师侵蔡。

侵晨


主

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (主):
* → Japanese: 主(しゅ) (shu)
* → Korean: 주(主) (ju)
* → Vietnamese: chủ (主)

→ Proto-Tai: *ɕɤwꟲ (“master”)

desc

Lao: ເຈົ້າ (chao, “lord, master, owner”)

Thai: เจ้า (jâao, “lord, master, owner”)

→ Vietnamese: chúa (主, “retired father of a king”), Chúa (主, “Lord”)

Pictogram (象形). Three distinct forms can observed in ancient scripts, all of which have merged into the same character in modern script:
A lamp or torch with a flame at the top. Original form of 炷.
Wood (木, now 王) on fire.
A spirit tablet. Same character as 示.
Unrelated to the right component of 往 (< 𢓸).
Unclear. Compare Tibetan ཇོ་བོ (jo bo, “elder brother, nobleman, lord”), Tibetan ཇོ་མོ (jo mo, “mistress, lady, goddess”), Tibetan ཐུ། (thu, “chief”), Proto-Monic *(d)ndooʔ (“to teach, to instruct; headman”), and Thai โจก (jòok, “leader, chief”) (Schuessler, 2007)
Also compare Burmese အတို့ (a.tui., “honorific personal pronoun”).


主

Alternative form of 注 (zhù, “to pour into”)


似

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ljɯʔ): semantic 亻 (“human”) + phonetic 以 (OC *lɯʔ).

Han compound

類似

类似

相似

你似唔似你阿媽㗎？

你似唔似你阿妈㗎？

to be like; to be similar to; to resemble


乇

For pronunciation and definitions of 乇 – see 託 (“to entrust; to commit to someone's care; etc.”).
(This character is a variant form of 託).
Borrowed from English torr.


倡

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tʰjaŋ, *tʰjaŋs): semantic 亻 + phonetic 昌 (OC *tʰjaŋ).

Han compound

Alternative form of 娼 (chāng, “prostitute”)


件

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 人 (“man”) + 牛 (“cow”).

一件東西

一件东西

一件嘢

一件襯衫

一件衬衫

Classifier for things which can be numerically counted, such as pieces of luggage, clothes, events: piece


們

Jin dynasty (1115–1234)
Ming dynasty
Song dynasty
Tang dynasty
Yuan dynasty

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 亻 (“person”) + phonetic 門 (OC *mɯːn).
First attested in the Song dynasty (Lü, 1940). Various other glyphs representing *mVn have been attested in Song dynasty texts, including 懣, 滿, 瞞, 門.
It is probably related to 弭 (MC mjieX) (in 我弭) and 偉 (MC hjw+jX) (in 兒郎偉／儿郎伟 (érláng wěi)) attested in the Tang dynasty (Lü, 1940); it is related to 每 (měi), as in 我每 (wǒměi), common during the Jin (Jurchen), Yuan and early Ming dynasties (Lü, 1985).
Proposed etymologies:
* From the personal pronoun plural marker 輩 (OC *puːls) (Lü, 1985; Feng, 1997; Li, 2013).
* From 門 (MC mwon, “door; clan; family”) (Ota, 2003; Yu, 1989; Li and Shi, 2000).
* From 每人 (MC mwojX nyin, “everybody”) (Norman, 1988); compare Eastern Min 各儂／各侬 (“everybody”), used in 我各儂／我各侬 (“we; us”), 汝各儂／汝各侬 (“you (plural)”), 伊各儂／伊各侬 (“they”).
* From 物 (MC mjut, “thing”) (Jiang, 1995).
* From plural features in Dravidian languages, cf. Classical Tamil -m, -mar, -mār suffixes, Tamil நாம் (nām, “inclusive we”), via Indic languages by means of Buddhist transmission (Chen & Ye, 2020).
Also compare 您.

zh-l

我各儂／我各侬 (“we; us”)

伊各儂／伊各侬 (“they”)

我們

我们

孩子們

孩子们

Sir, you are a good man. We will not do this.

Various editors. c. 13th century. A Collection of Conversations of Master Zhu (《朱子語類》)

Xiànggōng zhōngyì, mǒumen bùkěn zuò cǐshì.

相公忠義，某們不肯做此事。

相公忠义，某们不肯做此事。

Suffix indicating plural for pronouns, some animated nouns and personifications.

Cai Jing and his ilk got their tricks. To deal with the Yuanyou faction — they got rid of them all with one single memo.

Cài Jīng men zhāoshù gāo, zhì Yuányòu dǎng, zhǐ yīzhāng shū biàn jìnxíng qiǎn le.

蔡京們著數高，治元祐黨，只一章疏便盡行遣了。

蔡京们着数高，治元祐党，只一章疏便尽行遣了。

I take it that the main drift of your letter is contained in these two points: You consider Stalin and his colleagues bureaucrats, and the proposal of Mao Zedong and others — “Let all parties unite to resist Japan” — as a betrayal of the cause of revolution.

1936, 魯迅 (Lu Xun), 《答托洛斯基派的信》 (Reply to a Letter from the Trotskyites). English translation based on https://www.marxists.org/archive/lu-xun/1936/06/09.htm

Zǒngkuò xiānsheng láixìn de yìsi, dàgài yǒu liǎng diǎn, yī shì mà Shǐtàilín xiānshengmen shì guānliáo, zài yī shì chì Máo Zédōng xiānshengmen de “gèpài liánhé yīzhì kàngrì” de zhǔzhāng wéi chūmài gémìng.

總括先生來信的意思，大概有兩點，一是罵史太林先生們是官僚，再一是斥毛澤東先生們的「各派聯合一致抗日」的主張為出賣革命。

总括先生来信的意思，大概有两点，一是骂史太林先生们是官僚，再一是斥毛泽东先生们的「各派联合一致抗日」的主张为出卖革命。

The deceptive manoeuvres of the Achesons still have a flimsy social base in China.

1949, 毛澤東 (Mao Zedong), 《丟掉幻想，準備鬥爭》 (Cast Away Illusions, Prepare for Struggle). English translation based on https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-4/mswv4_66.htm

Àiqíxùnmen de qīpiàn zuòfǎ zài Zhōngguó hái yǒu yī céng bóbó de shèhuì jīchǔ.

艾奇遜們的欺騙做法在中國還有一層薄薄的社會基礎。

艾奇逊们的欺骗做法在中国还有一层薄薄的社会基础。

Suffix attached to the name of the representative of a group to refer to that whole group.

花兒們

花儿们

(dialectal Mandarin, Jin) General suffix indicating plural.


倉

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (倉):
* → Japanese: 倉(そう) (sō)
* → Korean: 창(倉) (chang)
* → Vietnamese: thương (倉)

→ Classical Mongolian: ᠰᠠᠩ (sang)

Mongolian: ᠰᠠᠩ (sang) / сан (san)

→ Buryat: сан (san), һан (han)

→ Khamnigan Mongol: сан

→ Tuvan: саң (sañ)

→ Written Oirat: ᠰᠠᡊ (sang)

Kalmyk: саң (sañ)

→ Thai: ฉาง (chǎang)

In oracle bone and bronze inscriptions, pictogram (象形): a granary, depicting its roof (亼), a door (戶), and a pit for storing grain (口). Alternatively an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 合 (“gather”) + 戶 (“door”) – a warehouse. The component 戶 corrupted into 𠁣 in Qin bamboo slips. This form was inherited in small seal script and was misinterpreted as cognate with the unrelated 食 in the Shuowen Jiezi.


倩

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵¹/

/t͡sʰiɑŋ²¹³/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵¹/

/t͡sʰiɑŋ²¹³/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰleːns, *sʰleŋs): semantic 人 + phonetic 青 (OC *sʰleːŋ).


俄

俄語

俄语

Short for 俄羅斯／俄罗斯 (Éluósī).: Russia (A transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and North Asia)


借

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsjaːɡs, *ʔsjaːɡ): semantic 人 (“person”) + phonetic 昔 (OC *sjaːɡ).

Han compound

我可以借你的書嗎？

我可以借你的书吗？


低

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tiːl): semantic 亻 (“man, person”) + phonetic 氐 (OC *tiːl, *til) – a person lowering themselves, bowing.
Cognate with 底 (OC *tiːlʔ, “bottom”), 柢 (OC *tiːl, *tiːlʔ, *tiːls, “root of a tree; base”), Tibetan མཐིལ (mthil, “bottom; floor”) (Schuessler, 2007).

och-l

寫低／写低 [Cantonese] ― se² dai¹ [Jyutping] ― to write down


酒

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (酒):
* → Japanese: 酒(しゅ) (shu)
* → Korean: 주(酒) (ju)
* → Vietnamese: tửu (酒)

→ Indonesian: ciu

/t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯²¹⁴/

/t͡si̯əu̯⁴¹/

/t͡ɕi̯əu̯⁴¹/

/t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯²¹⁴/

/t͡si̯əu̯⁴¹/

/t͡ɕi̯əu̯⁴¹/

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 水 (“water”) + 酉 (“an alcoholic drink vessel”) - the liquid associated with an alcoholic drink vessel, hence wine and alcohol. See also 酋.
Also a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsluʔ): semantic 水 (“water, liquid”) + phonetic 酉 (OC *luʔ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *jəw (“liquor”) (STEDT). Cognate with 酉 (OC *luʔ, “wine; wine vessel”).

Han compound

GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)


倫

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *run): semantic 人 + phonetic 侖 (OC *run).

Han compound

beyond compare; unrivaled; unequalled; in a class of its own

無與倫比

无与伦比

unsurpassed; unequalled; peerless; matchless

絕倫

绝伦


伓

n̂g-gōng / [^((ŋ̍-))ŋ̍²⁴²⁻⁵³ ⁽ᵏ⁻⁾ŋouŋ³³]

伓講

伓讲

n̂g-siàng / [^((ŋ̍-))n̩²⁴²⁻⁵⁵ ⁽ˢ⁻⁾niaŋ⁵³]

伓成

n̂g-báik / [^((ŋ̍-))m̩²⁴²⁻⁵³ ⁽ᵖ⁻⁾maiʔ²⁴]

伓捌

kó̤-n̂g-kó̤ / [kʰo²¹³⁻²¹ ^((ŋ̍-))ŋ̍²⁴²⁻⁵³ ^((kʰ-))ŋɔ²¹³]

去伓去？


倪

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋeː): semantic 亻 + phonetic 兒 (OC *ŋeː, *ŋje).


倪

Alternative form of 睨 (nì, “to look sideways; to squint”)


亂

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *roːns): phonetic 𤔔 (*[r]ˁo[n]-s) + semantic 乚. The left-side component 𤔔 is itself ideogrammatic, depicting the effort to comb a tangle of threads, hence the semantic link to order and disorder.
Area word of Austroasiatic origin. Compare Khmer ប្រួល (pruəl, “changing; unstable”) < Khmer រួល (ruəl, “to cook; to grill”), and also Khmer កំរោល (kɑmraol, “to go berserk; to become excited”) < Khmer រោល (rool, “to burn; to roast”) (Schuessler, 2007). Burmese ရုန်း (run:, “to struggle, to warp, to cause chaos”) and Tibetan ཁྲལ་ཁྲུལ (khral khrul, “fragments; scattered”) are Austroasiatic loans. Compare also Vietnamese lộn (“to turn the inside out, upside down, to reverse, to return, etc.”) and trộn (“to mix; to blend; to turn upside down”).

cog

乱
乨
乿
𠃶
𠃹
𠃿
𢿢
𢿮
𤕅

亂說

乱说

to dance in an unorganized, uncoordinated way

亂舞

乱舞

wildly; in an uncontrolled way; without order or reason; at random; haphazardly; having no direction or coherence; recklessly; arbitrarily

I am utterly insignificant and but a child, how should I be able to govern the four quarters (of the kingdom) with a corresponding reverent awe of the dread majesty of Heaven!

The Book of Documents, circa 4ᵗʰ – 3ʳᵈ century BCE

Miǎomiǎo yǔmòxiǎozǐ, qí néng ér luàn sìfāng yǐ jìngjì tiānwēi.

眇眇予末小子，其能而亂四方以敬忌天威。

眇眇予末小子，其能而乱四方以敬忌天威。

(Classical) to administer; to govern; to manage


亂

乱
乨
乿
𠃶
𠃹
𠃿
𢿢
𢿮
𤕅


偷

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l̥ʰoː): semantic 亻 + phonetic 俞 (OC *l̥ʰus, *lo).

細漢偷挽匏，大漢偷牽牛／细汉偷挽匏，大汉偷牵牛

sè-hàn thau bán pû, tōa-hàn thau khan gû

我們的錢被偷了。

我们的钱被偷了。

The pickpocket pinched her purse and ran away.

扒手偷了她的皮夾子跑了。

扒手偷了她的皮夹子跑了。


做

Originally a vulgar variant of 作, written ⿰作攵. The component 乍 later corrupted into 古.
Colloquial form of the departing-tone variant of 作 (MC tsaH, “to do”), to differentiate from the checked-tone variant (now represented by 作). Loss of checked codas in Mandarin has resulted in homophony of the two.