咸

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 戌 (“axe”) + 口 (“mouth (person) or clay pot”). A pictogram of soldiers shouting together with a spear in front of the battlefield, implying everyone, without exception. Also see 喊, which means to 'shout'. The alternative interpretation is to cut off one's head with an ax, depriving them of all they have; alternatively, to break a pot with an ax.
For etymology 2, simplified from 鹹 (elimination of 鹵).
Compare Khmer ព្រម (prɔɔm, “to agree; to go along with; together”) (Schuessler, 2007).


厲

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *m·rads): semantic 厂 + abbreviated phonetic 蠆 (OC *m̥ʰraːds).


史

Pictogram (象形) – 又 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “hand”) holding a stylized flag almost identical to 中 (OC *tuŋ, *tuŋs) perhaps to indicate a representative or ambassador (see its variant 吏 used in 使 to mean "ambassador"). As an alternative, it holds either a pen or a hunting weapon resembling similar to 中. Hence, the inner component 中 is partly unclear.
The whole character originally indicates the act of taking notes; today, it means "history". Compare 事.
;"to send, to employ, to cause"
;"scribe, historian"
:Alternatively, Unger (1990) and Starostin & Peiros (1996) derived 史 (OC *srɯʔ) "scribe, secretary" from 理 (OC *rɯʔ) "to mark, to draw lines", which, while cognate with Tibetan འབྲི ('bri, “to write, to draw”), apparently never meant "to write, to record".

cog

史可法 ― Shǐ Kěfǎ ― Shi Kefa


后

Oracle bone inscriptions often wrote 后 as 毓, depicting a woman giving birth. Wang Guowei posits the meaning extended from childbirth to succession, then to empress. In the modern form, the birthing figure would be 𠂆 and the child figure 𠮛.
According to Kōjien and 学研漢和大字典, ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 人 (“person (variant form)”) + 口 (“hole”) — a depiction of a person's (人) anus, with the additional meaning of “behind”, “rear”, as well as coming to mean “emperor/empress”, who would live in a palace “behind” worldly troubles.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m/s-gaw (“head”). Cognate with Tibetan གོ (go, “head; headman”), མགོ (mgo, “head, top, beginning”).


公

CJKV/code

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

→ Mongolian: гүн (gün)

→ Manchu: ᡤᡠᠩ (gung)

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

Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus

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


卜

Perhaps a pictogram (象形) of a crack in an oracle bone, used for divination in ancient China.
Officially adopted as the simplified form of 蔔 in the Chinese Character Simplification Scheme (《漢字簡化方案》) in 1956.
"Cracking" of a bone or tortoise shell in fire: "to divine by oracle bone" (Schuessler, 2007). Compare Galo -`buk (“to burst”), Galo -`puk (“to pop”), Mizo puak (“to explode; to burst”) (STEDT).


叢

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zloːŋ): semantic 丵 + phonetic 取 (OC *sʰloːʔ, *sʰloʔ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *C-tsəw-k/ŋ (“to collect; to gather; to assemble”). Cognate with 聚 (OC *zloʔ, *zlos, “to collect; to store”), 族 (OC *zoːɡ, “clan”), 最 (OC *zloːds, “to collect; most”), 稯 (OC *ʔsoːŋ, “sheaf; bundle”) (Schuessler, 2007).


冷

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *raːŋʔ, *reːŋ, *reːŋʔ): semantic 冫 (“ice”) + phonetic 令 (OC *ren, *reŋ, *reŋs, *reːŋ, *reːŋs) – cold as ice.
A vocalic variant of 涼 (OC *ɡ·raŋ, “chilly; cold”) (Schuessler, 2007).


區

→ English: Ou, Au, Aw


呈

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *rleŋ, *l'eŋs): semantic 口 + phonetic 𡈼 (OC *l̥ʰeːŋʔ). The bottom component is not to be confused with 壬 (rén) or 王.


含

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


傷

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


受

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


取

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


吝

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

恡
悋
㖁
𠫤
𠯛
𠯌
𠳈
𠳺
𠲲
𠳻
𠴽
𢙵


吳

→ English: Wu, Ng, Goh, Ngo

→ Tagalog: Go, Wu

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

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 口 (“mouth”) + 夨 (“man with tilted head”) – to speak loudly.
; "to shout"

吴
吴
呉
𠯵
㕦
𡗾
𡗿

吳三桂

吴三桂

Goh Chok Tong (Singapore's second Prime Minister; currently Emeritus Senior Minister)

吳作棟

吴作栋


各

Sino-Xenic (各):
* → Vietnamese: các (各)

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


印

CJKV/code

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

→ Vietnamese: in (印, “to print”)

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


利

CJKV/code

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

→ Vietnamese: lời

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

cog

利希慎


吐

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l̥ʰaːʔ, *l̥ʰaːs): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 土 (OC *l̥ʰaːʔ, *l'aːʔ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m/s-twa (“to spit”).


卬

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 匕 + 卩: a man standing and a man kneeling; compare 化, 比, 北 and 尼.
The sense “I” has been hypothesized to be from 我 (OC *ŋaːlʔ, “I”) (ultimately from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ŋa-j ~ ka) with an attached vocative suffix *-ŋ (Sagart, 1999: 134). However, evidence for the latter suffix is sparse; Sagart otherwise only adduces the pair of words 女 (OC *naʔ, *nas, “woman”) and 娘 (OC *naŋ, “mother (originally as a term of address)”).

och-l

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


前

CJKV/code

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

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³⁵/

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


匹

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


別

CJKV/code

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

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


向

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

Han compound

General Xiang Chong is a kind and fair-minded man proficient in military matters.

Jiāngjūn Xiàng Chǒng, xìngxíng shūjūn, xiǎochàng jūnshì.

將軍向寵，性行淑均，曉暢軍事。

将军向宠，性行淑均，晓畅军事。


哀

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


唱

/t͡sʰuɔŋ²¹³/

/t͡sʰiaŋ²¹³/

/t͡sʰuɔŋ²¹³/

/t͡sʰiaŋ²¹³/

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


嘗

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


啼

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

Han compound

嗁
㖒
㖷
渧
*諦
謕


卡

/t͡ɕʰi̯ä²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ä²¹⁴/

This character is a vertical stacking of 上 (“up”) and 下 (“down”) with fusion of the horizontal lines, thus representing being squeezed between above and below.
Maybe cognate with 夾 (OC *kreːb, “to clip”).


原

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


合

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

Burmese language
Proto-Sino-Tibetan language

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


叔

→ English: Ah Chek

→ Malay: encik

→ Indonesian: encik

→ Tagalog: Intsik

→ Cebuano: Insik

→ Thai: เจ๊ก (jék)

→ Khmer: ចិក (cək)

→ Vietnamese: Chệch

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

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

inh

尗
𠁮
𡬟
𡬧
𡭫
𭣬
𠦑
𢆑
尗
掓
𠁮
𡬟
𡬧
𡭫
𭣬
𠦑
𢆑


元

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

CJKV/code

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

→ English: yuan

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

och-l

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

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

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

大哉乾元，萬物資始，乃統天。

大哉干元，万物资始，乃统天。

元好問

元好问


喻

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


圻

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡɯl, *ŋɡɯːn, *ŋɡɯn): semantic 土 (“soil”) + phonetic 斤 (OC *kɯn, *kɯns).


同

CJKV/code

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

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


刺

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


其

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

while 渠 is more common in other varieties

† - may use corresponding classifier in certain contexts

Chinese varieties in general do not distinguish gender

distinctions are only sometimes made in writing.佢 is commonly used in Yue


啜

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯aɪ̯⁵¹/

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯aɪ̯⁵¹/

嚽
歠
𠼣
𡂜
𩟫
𠽶
涰
餟
諁


力

CJKV/code

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

→ Proto-Vietic: *k-rək

Muong: khấc

Vietnamese: sức

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


問

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


冠

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


圭

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


反

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


吾

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


坎

→ Proto-Tai: *C̬.kumᴬ

Thai: ขุม (kǔm, “pit”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰoːmʔ, *kʰoːms): semantic 土 (“earth; soil”) + phonetic 欠 (OC *kʰoms).
Related to 磡 (OC *kʰuːms, “embankment”) (Schuessler, 2007); see there for more.


儂

Cantonese: 冷 (laang⁵⁻¹) (via Teochew)

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

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


品

CJKV/code

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

→ Vietnamese: phím (“fret; key”)

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


古

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

→ Vietnamese: cũ

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

och-l

古天樂

古天乐


埜

For pronunciation and definitions of 埜 – see 野 (“countryside; field; outskirts; wilderness; plain; open country; open space; etc.”).
(This character is a variant form of 野).


參

Shuowen
Three Stars (Chinese constellation)

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

Han compound

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


堯

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


周

desc

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

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

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

cog

𠕛
𠱬
𠄗
𠕛
𠣘
淍
週
舟
州

Zhou Enlai / Chou En-Lai (the first Premier of the People's Republic of China)

周恩來

周恩来


喜

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


坦

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


包

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

→ English: bao, bau, bow, pao, pau

⇒ Khmer: នំប៉ាវ (num paaw)

⇒ Lao: ກະລາເປົ໋າ (ka lā pao)

→ Malay: pau

⇒ Thai: ซาลาเปา (saa-laa-bpao)

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

Bao Zheng (Chinese politician during the Song dynasty)

包拯


壴

Pictogram (象形).
A drum 口 with two ends, a base and feathers 土 on top. In the Kangxi radical 鼓, a hand holding a stick to hit the drum is also visible. See also the bottom component of 豊 in its original version.


夔

From a Kam-Tai source (Mei, 1980; Schuessler, 2007); compare Proto-Tai *ɣwaːjᴬ (“water buffalo”), Sui kui² (“water buffalo”). Schuessler also considered 犩 (Later Han Chinese ŋuɨ) to be the same etymon.


句

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


囊

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

cog

𬺿
嚢
𡄜
𢑿
𣡦
𣡪
𧛦
𣡏
廊


妘

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


唐

→ English: Tang, T'ang, Tong, Tng

desc

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

Northern Thai: ᨴᩤ᩠ᨦ

Khün: ᨴᩤ᩠ᨦ

Lao: ທາງ (thāng)

Lü: ᦑᦱᧂ (taang)

Tai Dam: ꪕꪱꪉ

Shan: တၢင်း (táang)

Tai Nüa: ᥖᥣᥒᥰ (täang)

Ahom: 𑜄𑜂𑜫 (taṅ)

Thai: ทาง (taang, “road; way”)

→ Thai: ถัง (tǎng, “Tang (dynasty)”)

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

Han compound

Tang Chun-i (20th-century Chinese philosopher)

唐君毅


姞

Zuo zhuan explains it as 吉人 ("felicious person").


光

CJKV/code

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

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

inh

㫕
灮
炗
炚
炛
烡
𠈑
𤉭
𤎫
𤐥
𰭧


坊

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


培

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


奐

Han char

⿳⺈⿵冂八大(G),⿳⺈𠔿大(HT),⿳⺈⿵冂儿大(JK)

奐 (Kangxi radical 37, 大+6, 9 strokes, cangjie input 弓月大 (NBK), four-corner 2743₀, composition ⿳⺈⿵冂八大(G) or ⿳⺈𠔿大(HT) or ⿳⺈⿵冂儿大(JK))

弓月大 (cangjie-input)
⿳⺈⿵冂八大(G) (composition)
⿳⺈𠔿大 (composition)
⿳⺈⿵冂儿大 (composition)
HT (romanization)


員

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


喬

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡ɕi̯ɒu̯¹³/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡ɕi̯ɒu̯¹³/

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

och-l

乔
𠳮
乔
乔
乔
乔
挾
蹻
乔
乔


增

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

liushu

OC *ʔsɯːŋ, *ʔsɯːŋs

Han compound

増
曾
⿰土⿳丷囚曰
𢴣
⿰土⿳⺈田曰


妮

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 尼 (OC *nil).


哈

For Hui people, the surname is the initialism of several Arabic names, such as حَسَن (ḥasan).


奮

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


右

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

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

liushu

OC *ɢʷɯʔ, *ɢʷɯs

och-l

右 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ)

右 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ)


嚴

CJKV/code

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

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

cog

嚴復

严复


姚

→ English: Yao, Yiu

→ Tagalog: Yao (via Hokkien)

姚明


先

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


夆

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰoŋ, *boŋ, *ɡaːds): semantic 夂 (“footprint pointing down, walk”) + phonetic 丰 (OC *pʰoŋ, “bush, brush”) – to meet. According to Ji Xushen (季旭昇), a foot walking through brush, which resists being moved through.


奏

Sino-Xenic (奏):
* → Vietnamese: tấu (奏)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): two hands (廾) holding an object, perhaps a musical instrument used during a sacrifical ritual (the lower part of the object originally was similar to 夲).
Otherwise, the whole character depicts two hands collecting resin (桼) dripping from a cut tree (drawn like 屮). The resin is visible at the bottom of the character.


塗

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

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

Han compound

涂
涂
斁
凃
𡌘
𡍼
𭏚


堵

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

Han compound

(a verse from the Hundred Family Surnames)

姬申扶堵


媯

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 為 (OC *ɢʷal, *ɢʷals)

a surname (no longer common since Han dynasty)


姜

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *klaŋ): phonetic 羊 (OC *laŋ) + semantic 女 (“female”)
Commonly assumed to be related to 羌 (OC *kʰlaŋ) (Pulleyblank, 2000), though not necessarily (Schuessler, 2007); 羊 (OC *laŋ, “sheep”) in the graphs may be just phonetic or also semantic, signifying "names referring to nomads" (Schuessler, 2009).

Han compound

Jiang Wei (military general of the state of Shu)

姜維

姜维


壽

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

Han compound

寿
𠷎
夀
寿
𧈙
𡔽
𦓃
𠭵
𦓂
寿


堂

/tʰɔːŋ²¹⁻³⁵/

/tʰɔːŋ²¹⁻³⁵/

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


園

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


奉

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


姍

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *slaːn): semantic 女 (“female”) + abbreviated phonetic 刪 (OC *sraːn).


婷

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


娥

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


娣

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *diːlʔ, *diːls): semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 弟 (OC *diːlʔ, *diːls, “young family member”).
Same word as 弟 (OC *diːlʔ, *diːls, “younger brother”).


壬

→ Zhuang: nyaemz

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


壺

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

壶
壷
𠻭
𡔥
𡔦
𡐎
𢑹
𥁖
𡔳
𡔲


單

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


單

單立文／单立文 [Cantonese] ― sin⁶ laap⁶ man⁴ [Jyutping] ― Pal Sinn

單依純／单依纯


妥

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


圈

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


奄

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 大 (“big”) + 申 (“extend”) – to cover.


奕

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *laːɡ): phonetic 亦 (OC *laːɡ) + semantic 大 (“big; great”).


基

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

Han compound

𡉊
𡉨
𡉝
𡋵
踑
𨄎
㚻
gay


姣

Han char

姣 (Kangxi radical 38, 女+6, 9 strokes, cangjie input 女卜金大 (VYCK), four-corner 4044₈, composition ⿰女交)


墓

→ Khmer: ម៉ុង (mong)

→ Indonesian: bong

→ Javanese: ꦧꦺꦴꦁ (bong)

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


嬴

嬴政


塔

CJKV/code

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

→ Thai: ถะ (tà, “pagoda”)

Eastern Han
Lokaksema (Buddhist monk)
Middle Chinese
Old Chinese

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


奔

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 人 (“person”) + 止 (“foot”).


婁

Originally phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡ·roː, *ɡ·ro): semantic 爪 (“hands”) + phonetic 角 (OC *kroːɡ, *ɡ·roːɡ) + semantic 女 (“woman”). Meaning uncertain.
Later ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 母 (“mother”) + 中 + 女 (“daughter”).

Han compound

娄
𡞔
𡝨
𡝤
𡡋
𡡼
𡜰
𡇔
𣫻


嫪

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ruːw, *rɯːws): semantic 女 + phonetic 翏 (OC *ɡ·rɯːw, *ɡ·rɯws).

Han compound

Lao ('嫪') is a surname; Ai ('毐') is a style name. According to the Book of Han, the Lao clan originated from Handan."

司馬貞 Sima Zhen, 《史記索隱》"Seeking the Obscure in the Records of the Grand Historian", volume 2

Lào xìng Ǎi zì àn Hànshū Làoshì chū Hándān

嫪姓毐字按漢書嫪氏出邯鄲

嫪姓毐字按汉书嫪氏出邯郸


妙

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mews): semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 少 (OC *hmjewʔ, *hmjews)


在

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

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

Han compound

扗
才
抂
𡉄
𡉈
𡉠
𥩴

樹頭徛予在，毋驚樹尾做風颱／树头徛予在，毋惊树尾做风台

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


央

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 大 (“man”) + 冂 (“pole”) - a man carrying a pole with its middle on his shoulder.
於 (OC ʔa) plus terminative suffix *-ŋ, hence literally "to get to be in the middle" (Schuessler, 2007). See 於 (OC ʔa) for further etymology.


宓

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mriɡ, *mliɡ): semantic 宀 (“roof”) + phonetic 必 (OC *pliɡ) – hidden at home. Note that 必 means “sure, certain”, hence connotations of “certainly at home, kept safe at home”.


嫁

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kraːs): semantic 女 + phonetic 家 (OC *kraː).
Exoactive of 家 (OC *kraː, “home, house”), with the addition of the denominal verbalisation suffix *-s in Old Chinese, meaning “to go to one's new home; to become married”. In the Baxter–Sagart system, an additional pronunciation is posited for the causative sense (“to make someone become married; to marry off”), formed with the prolific Old Chinese causative prefix *s-. Compare 娶.


孩

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡɯː): semantic 子 + phonetic 亥 (OC *ɡɯːʔ).
Smith (2011) groups this word along with these items into a word family meaning “root, germ, generative core”:
* 荄 (OC *kɯː, “grassroot”), and its derivative 根 (OC *kɯːn, “root”),
* 核 (OC *ɡrɯːɡ, “germ, kernel”),
* 骸 (OC *ɡrɯː, “(human) bones”),
* 亥 (OC *ɡɯːʔ, “sprouting stage”), i.e. "the moon’s first appearance" > "twelfth earthly branch".
He suggests a derivation from 荄 (OC *kɯː) by voicing, glossing 孩 as “to sprout”; the derivation is not explained any further. However, this sense does not seem to be attested.


寪

Han char

寪 (Kangxi radical 40, 宀+9, 12 strokes, cangjie input 十月竹火 (JBHF) or 十戈大火 (JIKF), four-corner 3022₇, composition ⿱宀為 or ⿱宀爲)

十月竹火 (cangjie-input)
十戈大火 (cangjie-input)
⿱宀為 (composition)
⿱宀爲 (composition)


宦

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 宀 (“house”) + 臣 (“servant”) – slave; servant.
Compare Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(g/k)(j)wal (“slave; servant”) (STEDT). Cognate with Tibetan ཁོལ་པོ (khol po, “servant”), Burmese ကျွန် (kywan, “slave”), Proto-Loloish *C-kywan¹ (“slave”), 倌 (OC *koːn, *kroːns).


姬

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *klɯ, *lɯ): semantic 女 (“woman; matrilateral family line; family name”) + phonetic 𦣞 ().
; Zhou dynastic surname
:Instead, he suggests an etymological connection between "the two intermarrying moieties, a ruling clan and its collateral, wife-supplying counterpart": 姬 (OC *(C)ɰə̀ɰ) and 姜 (*(C)ɰàŋ). He also points to other word-pairs, including 似 (MC ziX, “to resemble”) < *-əɰʔ and 像 (MC zjangX, “to imitate, image”) < *-aŋʔ, which display the phonetic correspondences: *-ɰ vs. *-ŋ as well *-ə- vs. *-a- (ibid.)
; lady (ancient laudatory title for women)
; "gay"

Han compound

Ji ("姬") was originally the surname of the Zhou; their princesses were more honorable than princesses of other states; therefore women with laudatory appellations are all called Ji ("姬").

Jī běn Zhōu xìng, qí nǚ guì yú lièguó zhī nǚ, suǒyǐ fùrén měihào jiē chēng jī.

姬本周姓，其女貴於列國之女，所以婦人美號皆稱姬。

姬本周姓，其女贵于列国之女，所以妇人美号皆称姬。

(historical) Royal (Princess) Ji (formal appellation for various women born out of the royal house of Zhou)

王姬

Are they not expressive of reverence and harmony, the carriages of the king's daughter (lit. "the Royal Princess Ji")?

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

曷不肅雝、王姬之車。

曷不肃雍、王姬之车。

(historical) the various Ji (collective appellation for various nobles and states' rulers patrilineally related to the royal house of Zhou)

諸姬

诸姬

Admirable are those, my cousins (lit. "the various Ji nobles"); I will take counsel with them.

孌彼諸姬、聊與之謀。

娈彼诸姬、聊与之谋。

a surname, used by the ruling family of the House of Zhou


妾

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (妾):
* → Japanese: 妾(しょう) (shō)
* → Korean: 첩(妾) (cheop)
* → Vietnamese: thiếp (妾)

/t͡sʰi̯e̞²⁴/

/t͡ɕʰi̯e̞²⁴/

/t͡sʰi̯e̞²⁴/

/t͡ɕʰi̯e̞²⁴/

Uncertain.
Possibly a pictogram (象形) of a woman with a headdress. Cognate to 女 with 辛 on top, though in the modern form the headdress has simplified to unrelated 立.
Alternatively, may be an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 辛 (“torture device”) + 女 (“woman”) – female criminal.
Cognate to 捷 (OC *zeb, “victory; booty”) (Schuessler, 2007). See there for more.


寇

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) - a person who holds a stick (卜) with his hand (又), about to beat the head (元) of another person, under the other persons own roof (宀). In Oracle bone script, two hands are holding the stick. In modern form, 卜 and 又 have merged into one character (攴), and is partially surrounded by 元.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-kəw ~ hu (“to steal”). Compare Tibetan རྐུ (rku, “to steal”) and Burmese ခိုး (hkui:, “to steal”).

inh

宼
冦
㓂
窛
𡨥
𡯷
𢽉
𥦆
𥦲
𭁵

寇準

寇准


尌

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djos): semantic 木 (“tree”) + semantic 寸 (“hand”) + phonetic 豆 (OC *doːs) – a hand planting a tree.
In the modern form, 木 and 豆 have fused into 壴, and the character may be interpreted as a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djos): phonetic 壴 (OC *tos) + semantic 寸 (“hand”).
This character has largely been superseded by 樹 (OC *djoʔ, *djos).


姑

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kaː): semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 古 (OC *kaːʔ) – a type of woman (aunt, mother-in-law).

Han compound

† - father's elder sister; ‡ - father's younger sister; § - married; ≠ - unmarried; ¶ - face-to-face; ∅ - non-face-to-face


季

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 禾 + 子.
Etymology not clear (Schuessler, 2007).

Ji Xianlin (Chinese Indologist and linguist)

季羨林

季羡林


土

Characters in the same phonetic series (土) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形): a lump of clay either on the ground or on a potter’s wheel. See the bottom part of the original version of 生 and 丰. Then, the lump of clay was stylized as a vertical stroke with a black dot in the middle perhaps to avoid confusion with other characters. Eventually, the black dot turned into a short horizontal stroke. Compare the top part of 土 with the ancient version of 十, which is a vertical stroke with a black dot in the middle.
Unrelated to the top component of 夌, 走, and 周; also unrelated to the central component of 金 and the overall character 圭.
There is no obvious cognate and etymology, unless it may be related to Proto-Austroasiatic *tiʔ (Proto-Monic *tiiʔ (“soil; ground consisting of earth”), Semnam tɛʔ (“soil; earth”)). However, this would require the assumption of a shift from front vowel to Old Chinese *a (Schuessler, 2007).
Probably related to 社 (OC *ɦljaːʔ, “god of soil; altar to god of soil”).


宜

Originally a pictogram (象形) or ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 且 (“sacrifical altar”) + 多 (“two pieces of meat”) – two pieces of sacrificial meat placed in a sacrifical altar.
Cognate with 儀 (OC *ŋral, “ceremony; appearance”). See there for more.


孛

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 𣎵 (“growth”) + 子 (“child”) – growing; vibrant; spirited. Original form of 勃 (OC *bɯːd, “exuberant”).


委

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qrol, *qrolʔ): phonetic 禾 (OC *ɡoːl) + semantic 女 (in the oracle bones inscriptions, there was 𠃊 instead of a woman kneeling).


威

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 戌 + 女.
畏 (OC *quls, “to fear”) is the exoactive derivation of 威 (OC *qul, “to overawe”), literally "to be intimidated" (Schuessler, 2007). In early writing, the character for 畏 was sometimes used directly as a substitute of 威 (wēi) (e.g. in the Da Yu ding inscription).
鬼 (OC *kulʔ, “ghost”) is a derivation (Baxter and Sagart, 1998).


墨

→ Buryat: бэхэ (bexe, “ink”)

→ Indonesian: bak

→ Javanese: ꦧꦏ꧀ (bak)

→ Khmer: មឹក (mɨk, “squid; ink”)

→ Korean: 먹 (meok)

desc

→ Lao: ມຶກ (mưk, “ink; black”), ໝຶກ (mưk, “sepia from cuttlefish; ink; black”)

→ Mongolian: бэх (bex, “ink”)

→ Sogdian: 𐼺𐼸𐼰 (mkʾ /*makā/, “ink”)

→ Thai: หมึก (mʉ̀k, “ink”), ปลาหมึก (bplaa-mʉ̀k, “cuttlefish”)

→ Vietnamese: mực (“cuttlefish; ink”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mlɯːɡ): phonetic 黑 (OC *hmlɯːɡ) + semantic 土 (“soil”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-maŋ ~ s-mak. Cognate with 黑 (OC *hmlɯːɡ, “black”).

Han compound

墨翟


尤

Pictogram (象形) – hand with a wart. Original form of 疣 and 肬.
Sino-Tibetan; compare Tibetan ཡུས (yus, “blame, charge, accusation”).


孝

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 耂 (“an old man with long hair, bent over”) + 子 (“a child”) – an old man and a child, filial piety between generations. Compare top component to 老 (OC *ruːʔ, “old”).

孝義

devotion to one's parents and loyalty to one's friends


場

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'aŋ): semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 昜 (OC *laŋ).
Etymology not certain; perhaps related to Tibetan ར་བ (ra ba, “enclosure; fence; wall; yard”) and 宁 (OC *da, *daʔ, “space between the door and the entrance screen”) (Schuessler, 2007).


口

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (口):
* → Japanese: 口(く) (ku); 口(こう) (kō)
* → Korean: 구(口) (gu)
* → Vietnamese: khẩu (口)

Pictogram (象形) – resembles an open mouth.
In the oracle bone script, radical 口 is used for characters having abstract meanings. Such a character can have a figurative meaning derived from the phonetic part, e.g. 右 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ, *ɢʷɯs, “right”) = 又 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “right hand”) + 口 and 𪪺 (“strong; powerful”) = 弓 (OC *kʷɯŋ, “bow”) + 口, or be an unrelated borrowing, e.g. 否 (OC *brɯʔ, *pɯʔ, “no”) = 不 (OC *pɯ, *pɯʔ, *pɯ', “calyx”) + 口.
See also 亼, 甘, 齒, 曰, 四, 廿, 只, and 欠.
Similar but unrelated to the bottom part of 由 and 缶 in their original form. Similar but unrelated to 囗, the original version of 丁 and some ancient variants of 天 on oracle bones.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ku(w) (“mouth”). Cognate with Garo ku·sik (“mouth”), Tangut 𗋈 (*ŋwu², “mouth”).


和

Sino-Xenic (和):
* → Japanese: 和(か) (ka)
* → Korean: 화(和) (hwa)
* → Vietnamese: hoà (和)

→ Thai: ฮั้ว (húua)

→ Vietnamese: hùa

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡoːl, *ɡoːls): phonetic 禾 (OC *ɡoːl) + semantic 口 (“mouth”) – harmony.
; “and; with”
; “Japanese”


夾

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) – one person (大) holding two other people (人) under his arm, or two people (人) sandwiching a person (大).

夹
挾
鋏
夹
夹
佮
夹
挾
夹
夹
夹


宋

→ English: Song, Sung, Soong

Characters in the same phonetic series (宋) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

Han etyl

宋美齡

宋美龄

宋楚瑜

a surname, listed 118th in the Baijiaxing


姓

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (姓):
* → Japanese: 姓(せい) (sei)
* → Korean: 성(姓) (seong)
* → Vietnamese: tính (姓)

→ Khmer: សែ (sae)

→ Thai: แซ่ (sɛ̂ɛ)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sleŋs): semantic 女 (“woman; female”) + phonetic 生 (OC *sʰleːŋ, *sreŋs).
Specialised form of 性 (xìng): “human nature; what is inborn” > “surname; clan name”.


寓

Possibly related to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *r/s-ŋ(y)a (“to borrow, lend”) (whence Burmese ငှား (hnga:, “to idem”)), though the semantic gap is rather non-trivial (Luce, 1981).


孟

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mraːŋs): semantic 子 (“child; son”) + phonetic 皿 (OC *maŋʔ)
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *maŋ (“big; old; elder (brother, uncle)”); cognate with Anong ʈhi³¹ mɑŋ³¹ (“old; elderly”), Drung tvmvng (“elder sibling”), Burmese မင်း (mang:, “monarch; king”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT).
Likely related to 兄 (OC *hmraŋ, “older brother”) (Sagart, 1999; STEDT). Perhaps also related to 芒 (OC *maːŋ, *maŋ, “great; extensive”) and 荒 (OC *hmaːŋ, *hmaːŋs, “vast; excessive; senile”) (Sagart, 1999; Schuessler, 2007).

och-l

孟浩然


尹

A hand holding a rod, similar to 事 and 支.

𢁨
𪱛
𢂟
𢂫
𢂬
𢂭
𢃁
𢃂
𢃵
𢃹

Yin Zhiping (famous Jin and Yuan Dynasty Taoist philosopher)

尹志平


它

Characters in the same phonetic series (它) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形): a snake. This is now written as the derivative 蛇 (OC *l̥ʰaːl, *ɦljaːl, *lal).
The character was later borrowed for the then-homophonous third-person pronoun (“he/she/it”). Today 他 (tā) is used for male or gender-unspecified “he” and 她 (tā) for “she”.

其

gender and number neutral - he, she, it, they


岐

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡe): semantic 山 (“mountain”) + phonetic 支 (OC *kje)


寨

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zraːds, *slɯːɡ) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): phonetic 𡨄 (, “to block; to block up; to jam; to plug”) + semantic 木 (“wood”).


尞

For pronunciation and definitions of 尞 – see 僚 (“official; bureaucrat; colleague; associate; companion; etc.”).
(This character is a variant form of 僚).


尉

Han char

尉 (Kangxi radical 41, 寸+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 尸火木戈 (SFDI), four-corner 7420₀, composition ⿰⿸尸示寸 or ⿰𫵖寸)

尸火木戈 (cangjie-input)
⿰⿸尸示寸 (composition)
⿰𫵖寸 (composition)


尉

Possibly ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 𡰥 + 寸 (“hand”) + 火 (“fire”).


岑

Cén fūzǐ, Dānqiū shēng, jiāng jìn jiǔ, bēi mò tíng.

岑夫子，丹丘生，將進酒，杯莫停。

岑夫子，丹丘生，将进酒，杯莫停。


塵

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 鹿 (“deer”) + 土 (“soil, dust”) – cloud of dust produced by a (group of) running deer. Ancient simplification of 𪋻, which pictures three deer on top instead of one.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-dul ~ r-tul (“dust”). Cognate with Tibetan རྡུལ (rdul, “dust, particle”).

inh

Obsolete. 皮 is used for SI prefix pico-.


嬰

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 賏 (“a string of shells”) + 女 (“woman”).
Probably related to 縈 (OC *qʷeŋ, “to entwine”) (Schuessler, 2007).


寵

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *r̥ʰoŋʔ): semantic 宀 + phonetic 龍 (OC *b·roŋ, *mroːŋ)


宰

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 宀 (“house”) + 䇂.
In the modern form, contains 辛 instead.


嵇

→ English: Ji

嵇康

嵇紹

嵇绍


崔

Han char

崔 (Kangxi radical 46, 山+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 山人土 (UOG), four-corner 2221₄, composition ⿱山隹)


崔

/t͡sʰu̯eɪ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰu̯eɪ̯⁵⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zluːl, *sʰluːl): semantic 山 (“mountain”) + phonetic 隹 (OC *tjul).

Han compound

Daniel Chee Tsui (Chinese-born American physicist and Nobel laureate)

崔琦


完

→ Vietnamese: vẹn

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɦŋoːn): semantic 宀 (“roof”) + phonetic 元 (OC *ŋon).


專

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (專):
* → Vietnamese: chuyên (專)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjon): phonetic 叀 (, “spindle”) + semantic 又 (“hand”) – a hand turning a spindle or spinning wheel. Originally also written 叀.
The 又 was later replaced by related 寸.


孔

Bronze inscriptions: Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 丿 (“opening”) + 子 (“child”) – opening in the skull of a newborn, i.e. fontanelle.
; "hole": 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 (lədî hkū, “nostril”), Chepang घाङ् (gʰaŋ, “hole”), Burmese အခေါင်း (a.hkaung:, “hollow place; cavity”), Naxi kho³³ (“cave; hole; pit”) (STEDT).
; "peacock": Starostin reconstructs 孔 (OC *khōŋ) and compares it to Proto-Vietic *k-voːŋ. Compare also Semai kuwok, Semnam kwɔːŋ.

cog

H. H. Kung (Chinese banker and politician)

孔祥熙


寄

→ Vietnamese: gửi

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *krals): semantic 宀 (“house”) + phonetic 奇 (OC *kral, *ɡral) ― living away from home.
;"to commit to one's charge" (Lunyu), "to entrust, communicate" (Liji), > "send (a letter)"
;"translator, interpreter" > "an alternate name used for the Dongyi tribes during the Ming Dynasty"


展

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tenʔ, *tens): semantic 尸 + abbreviated phonetic 𧝑 (), which has a variant 𧝣; the original version is 㞡. The phonetic component is a reference to fine red silk clothes, one of the six garments worn by the queen in the Rites of Zhou, and it contains as well a reference to the concept of "opening, extending; watch carefully" in the component 㠭.
Similar but unrelated to 昔 and 共.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-dal (“spread; extend; develop”) (STEDT).


宛

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qon, *qonʔ): semantic 宀 + phonetic 夗 (OC *qonʔ).
His original meaning was perhaps linked to "house"; in ancient times, it was read as "館".


屠

Han char

屠 (Kangxi radical 44, 尸+9, 12 strokes, cangjie input 尸十大日 (SJKA), four-corner 7726₄, composition ⿸尸者)


屠

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *daː, *da): semantic 尸 (“body”) + phonetic 者 (OC *tjaːʔ).

Han compound

屠呦呦


國

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (國):
* → Japanese: 国(こく) (koku)
* → Korean: 국(國) (guk)
* → Vietnamese: quốc (國)

→ Bouyei: guef

→ Khitan: 囯

→ Zhuang: guek

Characters in the same phonetic series (或) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʷɯːɡ): semantic 囗 (“closure”) + phonetic 或 (OC *ɡʷɯːɡ).
The k-prefix derivation of 域 (OC *ɢʷrɯɡ, “boundary; territory”). Cognate with 閾 (OC *qʰʷrɯɡ, “threshold”) and 囿 (OC *ɢʷɯs, *ɡʷɯ, “park; garden”).
No obvious outside cognate exists. It may be related to Burmese ကွက် (kwak, “to be marked with a square or circular pattern; to be confined to a certain area”) (Schuessler, 2007).

cog-lite

国
囯
圀
囶
𡆿
囻
𡇅
䆐
戜
𤦂
囗
𡆸
𡆻
𡇎
𡇏
𡇕
𡈑
𢦾
𢧌
𤦒
或
𬪇
㕵
𠰧


嶽

岳
岳
𡽺
𡶓
𡷒
𡶳
𡴳


寐

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mids): abbreviated semantic 㝱 (“dream”) + phonetic 未 (OC *mɯds).
Original form may have been an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 宀 (“house”) + 爿 (“bed”) + 人 (“person”) – a person sleeping on a bed in a room. Compare ancient forms of 夢.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r/s-mwəj (“to sleep; to dream”) (STEDT). Cognate with Tibetan རྨི་བ (rmi ba, “to dream”), Tibetan རྨི་ལམ (rmi lam, “dream”), Burmese မွေ့ (mwe., “to enjoy sleep”).


崇

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zruŋ): semantic 山 (“mountain”) + phonetic 宗 (OC *ʔsuːŋ).


寺

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (寺):
* → Japanese: 寺(じ) (ji)
* → Korean: 사(寺) (sa)

/t͡siː²²⁻³⁵/

/t͡siː²²⁻³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ljɯs): phonetic 𡳿 (OC *tjɯ, “to go”) + semantic 又 (“hand”) – to grasp, to hold. Phonetic 𡳿 (之), which represents a footprint pointing up, became 土 or 士 in the clerical script from the late Western Han to the Eastern Han, and semantic 又 become 寸 in Small Seal Script. The derivative 持 (OC *l'ɯ) refers to the original word.
The character was often used in the place of a more specialized form. For example, in the Chu Silk Manuscript (see table above) it clearly stood for 時 (OC *djɯ, “season”).


寧

Oracle bone script: Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 宀 (“house”) + 皿 (“food or wine vessel”) + 丂 (“table (?)”) – contentment. The 心 (“heart”) component was added in bronze inscriptions to yield 寧, and the 丂 component was sometimes omitted to yield 寍.
Shuowen: Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *neːŋ): phonetic 寍 (OC *neːŋ) + semantic 丂 (“speech (?)”).
Note that the simplified form 宁 (zhù) is also a traditional character on its own.
Either related to Burmese ညင်း (nyang:, “soft, gentle, quiet”) or connected to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s/k-niŋ (“heart, mind, brain”) (Schuessler, 2007)

cog

宁
寍
㝕
𡩋
甯
𡨴
寜
寕


嵩

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 山 (“mountain”) + 高 (“tall”).
Reasoning that 嵩 and 崧 (sōng) are the same word and the latter's phonetic 松 (OC *sɢloŋ) suggests the medial *-l-, Schuessler (2007) minimally reconstructs Old Chinese pronunciation *suŋ < *sluŋ, proposes that it was from Austroasiatic and compares it to Proto-Mon-Khmer *sluŋ ~ *sluuŋ (“high”). However, note Baxter & Sagart (2014)'s reconstructions 嵩 (OC), 崧 (OC *[s]uŋ), & 松 (OC *sə.ɢoŋ) without medial *-l-.


富

→ English: Fu

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pɯɡs): semantic 宀 + phonetic 畐 (OC *pʰrɯɡ, *bɯɡ).
Bodman (1980) compares it to Tibetan ཕྱུག (phyug, “rich; wealthy”), ཕྱུགས (phyugs, “all beasts that can be domesticated or subjugated by man; cattle”), but the vowels do not match with Chinese (Schuessler, 2007).
Sagart (1999) relates it to 寶 (OC *puːʔ), but see there for more. In later work, Sagart (2011b, 2017d) connects it to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *pʷak (“pig”), comparing the semantic development from “pig” to “rich” to Latin pecunia (“money”), which is derived from Latin pecu (“cattle; domestic animals”), and tentatively reconstructs Proto-Sino-Tibetan *C.pək (“pig”). However, the Tibeto-Burman word for “pig” is usually compared to 豝 (OC *praː, “sow”).
Cognate with 福 (OC *pɯɡ, “blessing”) (Wang, 1982; Schuessler, 2007).


容

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *loŋ): semantic 宀 + phonetic 公 (OC *kloːŋ) – to hold; to contain.
容 has also largely supplanted 頌 (OC *sɢloŋs, *loŋ) for the sense of “appearance”.
Note phonetic and semantic resemblance to Burmese ယောင် (yaung, “appearance, semblance”), though the discrepancy in initials is problematic (Luce, 1981).
; “ronna-”

cog

Rong Guotuan (Chinese table tennis player)

容國團

容国团


宗

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 宀 (“house”) + 示 (“spirit tablet”) – temple; ancestral shrine.
Compare Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tsuk ⪤ *tsik (“to build”) (STEDT). Cognate with Tibetan རྫོང (rdzong, “castle; fortress”), Burmese ဆောင် (hcaung, “room; chamber; hall”) (Schuessler, 2007).
; an administrative division in historical Tibet

cog

Zong Ze (Southern Song official and general)

宗澤

宗泽


夏

→ English: Hsia, Xia

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
Shuowen
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

Characters in the same phonetic series (夏) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
In the oracle bone script, it was an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 日 (“sun”) + 頁 (“head; man”) – man under the scorching sun; summer.
Various variants were seen in the bronze inscriptions from the Spring and Autumn period. 止 (“foot”) was often added to the bottom of the man. Additionally, in the form shown above, the 日 was removed and 𦥑 (“two hands”) was added. The seal script inherits its form from this form, with 止 replaced with the related 夊.
Various forms were also seen from the Warring States period. The bamboo and silk script above shows a common form: 日 + 止 + 頁. The “ancient script” (古文) from Shuowen (labelled as the large seal script) has deviated significantly, with 止 becoming the related 足. The top part may be a corruption of 頁.
The current form is simplified from the seal script, with the removal of 𦥑 and the legs from 頁. Unrelated to 复.
; “great; Xia Dynasty; China; Chinese”
; “magnificent colours; variegated”

Han compound

昰
夓
𠀼
𠌘
𠍺
𡔰
𡕭
𡕻
𡕾
𡖃
𣋗
𤴞
𧈄
𩖳

Hsia Chih-tsing (Chinese literary critic)

夏志清


幵

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵/

Ideogram (指事): 干 + 干 – comparing two 干 side by side, even.


屈

Characters in the same phonetic series (出) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Originally 𡲶. Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *klud, *kʰlud): phonetic 出 (OC *kʰljuds, *kʰljud) + semantic 尾 (“tail”). 尾 became 尸 in clerical script.

Han compound

Qu Yuan (Chinese politician and poet of the state of Chu during the last years of the Warring States period)

屈原


庾

Harlem Yu (Taiwanese variety show host and singer)

庾澄慶

庾澄庆


封

Ideogrammic (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *poŋ, *poŋs): abbreviated phonetic 丰 (OC *pʰoŋ, “seedling”) + 土 (“dirt”) + 寸 (“hand”) – mark boundaries by planting trees. Compare 邦.
Originally 丰 (OC *pʰoŋ), depicting a tree seedling. Variants that added any combination of 土 (“dirt”), 又 (“hand”), 田 (“field”), 丮 (“kneeling person with hands stretched out”) appeared from bronze inscriptions onwards.
Area etymon (Schuessler, 2007). Compare Tibetan ཕུང་པོ (phung po, “heap”), Tibetan སྤུང (spung, “heap”), Lepcha ᰣᰦᰎᰪᰵ (a-pŭŋ, “a heap; a stock”), Mizo [Term?] (puŋᴴ), [Term?] (punᴸ, “increase; assemble”), Mizo vûng (vuuŋᴴ), vûn (vuunᴸ, “swollen”), Mizo vûng (vuuŋᴿ, “heap; mound”), Chepang भुङ्हसा (bhuŋh-, “to be burst or peak of activity (flowering, field work etc.)”). Compare also Khmer ពោង (poong, “protuberances/bumps on an animal's head”), Khmer សំពោង (sɑmpoong, “puffed up; swollen”).
邦 (OC *proːŋ, “country”) may be the same etymon (Wang, 1982, Schuessler, 2007).


寸

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (寸):
* → Japanese: 寸(すん) (sun)
* → Korean: 촌(寸) (chon)
* → Vietnamese: thốn (寸)

Old Uyghur: tswn (tsun)

/t͡sʰu̯ən⁵¹/

/t͡sʰouŋ²¹³/

/t͡sʰu̯ən⁵¹/

/t͡sʰouŋ²¹³/

Characters in the same phonetic series (寸) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Shuowen considered it Ideogram (指事) – a position on the forearm where the pulse can be palpated by compressing the radial artery. It is called 寸口 in modern Chinese, and the meaning of a unit of measurement is derived from the distance between the wrist and this position. Compare 又, 手, 九, 爪.
However, it may be an abbreviated form of 尊 (zūn), borrowed to mean a unit of measurement (see: 李轶.先秦度量单位"尺""寸"用字考[J].云南师范大学学报(哲学社会科学版), 2010, 42(5).DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1000-5110.2010.05.017.)


帙

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'iɡ): semantic 巾 (“cloth”) + phonetic 失 (OC *hliɡ).


岳

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 丘 (“hill”) + 山 (“mountain”).
Unclear. Compare Proto-North Bahnaric *ŋŏk ("mountain") (> Halang ngŏk and Sedang ŋɔ). Note also Proto-Hlai *hŋwʔo³ (“mountain”) and perhaps also Burmese ငေါ (ngau:), [script needed] (ŋok-ŋak, “project, stick up or out”), [script needed] (ŋroŋʼ, “any sharp thing sticking out; sharp stump or thorn”), and Tibetan རྔོག (rngog, “hump”) (Schuessler, 2007).
STEDT instead derives it from provisional Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kak (“expensive, at its peak”) and considers it cognate to 極 (OC *N‑kək; N‑k(r)ək, “ridge of house; the highest point; extreme limit, utmost”), Proto-Lolo-Burmese *kak (“expensive, intense, at its peak”) (> Lisu [script needed] (phy²¹ kha³⁵, “expensive”)), Ersu phɛ⁵⁵ khuɑ⁵⁵ (“expensive”), and Galo `kog dɨr (“peak”).

cog

phɛ⁵⁵ khuɑ⁵⁵

岳飛

岳飞


密

→ Thai: มิด (mít)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mriɡ): phonetic 宓 (OC *mriɡ, *mliɡ) + semantic 山 (“mountain”) – hidden in the mountains, secret, intimate. Note that 宓 means “secret”, hence the phonetic component also adds part of the meaning.


居

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


巢

/t͡sʰaːu̯²¹/

/t͡sʰaːu̯²¹/

Pictogram (象形): a baby bird (巛) in a nest (田), which is on top of a tree (木).


廖

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *rɯːw, *rɯːws, *rɯws): semantic 广 + phonetic 翏 (OC *ɡ·rɯːw, *ɡ·rɯws).

蜀中無大將，廖化作先鋒／蜀中无大将，廖化作先锋

Shǔ zhōng wú dàjiàng, Liào Huà zuò xiānfēng

廖仲愷

廖仲恺


幟

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjɯɡs, *tʰjɯɡs, *hljɯɡs): semantic 巾 (“cloth”) + phonetic 戠 (OC *tjɯɡ).


尋

→ Vietnamese: tìm

Spring and Autumn period
oracle bone script

Characters in the same phonetic series (尋) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): two hands (now 彐 and 寸 ) stretched out measuring a mat (now 工) – "a unit of measurement; arm span". The component 口 (“mouth, talk”) was likely added to emphasize the act of reading the measurement out loud. Forms with it have appeared as early as oracle bone script, but forms without it have also appeared as late as the Spring and Autumn period.
Appears as 𢒫 in the Shuowen Jiezi, which interprets the character as phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声) with 彡 (OC *sroːm, *slom) as the sound component.
; unit of length; arm span
; to seek; to search


官

→ English: Guan, Kwan

Compositionally related to 宮. Approximately analysable as ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 宀 + 𠂤 – multiple rooms under a roof, an official building.
Probably the same word as 倌 (OC *koːn, *kroːns, “servant”) (Schuessler, 2007). See there for more.


弋

Pictogram (象形): a sharp peg. Same as 才.
Traditionally connected to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *kyak (“navel, umbilical cord, rope”), the latter whence Burmese ချက် (hkyak, “navel”); however, the Old Chinese reconstructions make this problematic. Perhaps related to 射 (OC *ɢljaːɡs, *laːɡs, *ɢljaːɡ, *laːɡ, “to shoot”) (STEDT).


巨

Pictogram (象形) – a carpenter's square held in hand by a man 大; the original form of 矩 (OC *kʷaʔ). Borrowed phonetically for the sense "enormous".
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *wa (“large, wide, distant”). Insides Sinitic, 巨 (OC *gwaʔ ?) is possibly related to 迂 (OC *wa, “to enlarge, increase”) and perhaps 況 (OC *hwaŋh, “to increase, increasingly, how much more, moreover”); outsides Sinitic, cognate with Mizo vak (“with force, very hard, much, exceedingly, in large number / quantities, (open mouth) wide”).


寶

Oracle bone script: Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 宀 (“house”) + 𤣩 (“jade”) + 貝 (“cowry”) – treasures in a house.
The phonetic component 缶 (OC *puʔ) was added to the character in bronze inscriptions.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *pəw (“price”); cognate with Burmese အဖိုး (a.hpui:, “price”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT). Peiros and Starostin (1996) also compares it to Tibetan སྤུས (spus, “goods”). Sagart (1999) relates it to 富 (OC *pɯɡs, “rich”). Schuessler (2007) proposes that it could be the same word as 保 (OC *puːʔ, “to take care of; to consider something precious”).

och-l

宝
*寳
珤
𤥖
㻄
𡧖
宲
𡩧
𡧰
寚
𪧬
𡪓
𡫷
𤥯
𤨷
𠋾
𠍙
𢉣
𢉔
𢉹
𫴫
𫴦
𫴅
𡫿
𡫷
𫳽
𭔟
靌
𩇉


幕

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *maːɡ): phonetic 莫 (OC *maːɡ) + semantic 巾 (“cloth”).


寮

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *reːw): semantic 宀 + phonetic 尞 ().


如

Sino-Xenic (如):
* → Vietnamese: như (如)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *nja, *njas): phonetic 女 (OC *naʔ, *nas, “woman”) + semantic 口 (“mouth”) – a woman obeying an order.
Sino-Tibetan; compare Mru [script needed] (na, “to be so”), Mizo na nâ nâ (“it being so; since”) (Schuessler, 2007). Also compare Old Mon [script needed] (ñaṅ, “resembling; like”) (ibid.).


宮

Chinese folk religion
Mazu
Qing conquest of Taiwan
Qing dynasty
ancestor worship

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 宀 + 呂: many rooms under a roof — a mansion.
STEDT compares it with Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-jim ~ k-jum (“house”); see there for hypothesized cognates.


少

Pictogram (象形) – four dots, perhaps three grains of sand (see 沙), to indicate "a few, a little". Phonetically borrowed from 小 (OC *smewʔ, “small”), which is depicted by three dots.
Unrelated to 步 (and hence 歲), in which the lower component is the stylization of a foot.


廬

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ra): semantic 广 + phonetic 盧 (OC *b·raː).


庫

→ Mongolian: хүү (xüü)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰaːs): semantic 广 (“building”) + phonetic 車 (OC *kʰlja, *kla, “carriage”) – a carriage in a building.
According to Karlgren (1956), cognate with 車 (OC *kʰlja, *kla, “carriage”) (< "storehouse for carriages").


宿

In the oracle bone script, an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 人 (“person”) + [Term?] (“bamboo mat”) – a person resting on a mat. Sometimes a house (宀) was added.
Later the pictogram of the bamboo mat became 㐁 or 𠀬, and eventually came to be written 百.
Contrast 寒.
; “To stay overnight; lodge > night; mansion of the zodiac [i.e. the Sun's lodging stations]”


席

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (席):
* → Japanese: 席(せき) (seki)

→ Vietnamese: tiệc

/t͡sʰioʔ¹²¹/

/t͡sʰioʔ¹²¹/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ljaːɡ): phonetic 石 (OC *djaɡ) + semantic 巾 (“cloth”). In the small seal script 石 has corrupted into ⿸广廿. Shuowen Jiezi interprets it as ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): abbreviated phonetic 庶 (OC *hljaɡs) + semantic 巾. In the variant 𠩛, 石 corrupted into 厂 instead.
Compare 度 (OC *daːɡs, *daːɡ) and 庶 (OC *hljaɡs).
Etymology unclear. Various theories have been proposed:
* Wang (1982) relates this to 藉 (OC *zjaːɡs, *zjaːɡ), 蒩 (OC *ʔsaː, *ʔsaːʔ, *sʰa), 薦 (OC *ʔseːns).
* Schuessler (2007), reconstructing this word minimally as *s-lak, relates this word to 莽 (OC *mlaʔ, *mlaŋʔ, “grass”).
* Baxter and Sagart (2014) derive it from a root *tak (“to place”), with circumstantial noun prefix *s-, literally “place for putting things”.


弘

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡʷɯːŋ): phonetic 弓 (OC *kʷɯŋ, “bow”) + semantic 口 (“mouth”) – the sound of a bow > a loud sound.
The 口 later corrupts into 厶 (the ancient form of 肱 (OC *kʷɯːŋ)), which Shuowen interprets to be the phonetic component of the character.


帥

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 寻 (“two hands”) + 巾 (“scarf”) - to wear a scarf. Shuowen Jiezi interprets it as Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sruds, *srud): phonetic 𠂤 (*C.tˤuj) + semantic 巾.
Also written as 率 (OC *sruds, *rud, *srud, “to lead”); both represent the s-causative of 律 (OC *rud, “to follow”). Cognate with Tibetan སྲིད (srid, “commander, leader”).


尚

→ Tangut: → 𗊻 (*śjo²) (transliteration)

Characters in the same phonetic series (尚) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djaŋ, *djaŋs): semantic 八 + phonetic 向 (OC *hljaŋs, *hlaŋs). Similar to 冋.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *zrjaŋ ~ rjaŋ (“uncle, superior”) (STEDT; cf. Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-tjaŋ (“, upper part, rise, raise, top, summit”)). Cognate with 丈 (OC *daŋʔ) "gentleman, older man, husband", Tibetan ཨ་ཞང (a zhang, “maternal uncle”), Burmese အရှင် (a.hrang, “master, lord”), etc.

cog

Shang Kexi (Chinese general of the Ming and Qing Dynasties)

尚可喜


巫

→ English: wu

Pictogram (象形) – originally two pieces of jade crossed over each other as used in ancient shamanistic practices focused around sacrifices.
As an alternative, according to Zou Jingheng (鄒景蘅), they represent two 工 crossed over, hence two tools made of bamboo or yarrow stalks; the original meaning should be partly preserved in 筮.
; “shaman; witch”
: Thai หมอ (mɔ̌ɔ, “doctor”) < Proto-Tai *ʰmo:ᴬ (“shaman”) is generally assumed to be a Sino-Tibetan loan (Pittayaporn, 2014). More at Wu (shaman), Magi#In Chinese sources, magus.
; “Malay”

巫啟賢／巫启贤 ― Wū Qǐxián ― Eric Moo (Malaysian Chinese singer-songwriter)


廈

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sraːs, *ɡraːʔ): semantic 广 + phonetic 夏 (OC *ɡraːʔ, *ɡraːs). However, the phonetic component means "great", hence it adds part of the meaning.
Related to 嘏 (OC *kraːʔ, “great”) (Wang, 1982).


彊

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑŋ³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑŋ³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kaŋs, *ɡaŋ, *ɡaŋʔ): semantic 弓 (“bow”) + phonetic 畺 (OC *kaŋ).
Bow is powerful.


彰

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kjaŋ) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): phonetic 章 (OC *kjaŋ, “emblem”) + 彡 (“colorful patterns”) – conspicuous.


康

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 庚 (“threshing tools”) + 米 (“rice”) – chaff. Unrelated to 隶, in which the bottom part is a reference to a tail (毛).
The derivative 糠 refers to the original word.
; quiet, calm, peaceful
; Kham
; "to look, to see"

康有為

康有为

(historical) a surname, given to people from the Central Asian country of Kangju (康居 or 康國／康国)


彬

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *prɯn): abbreviated phonetic 焚 (OC *bun) + semantic 彡.
Alternatively may be phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *prɯn): abbreviated phonetic 棼 (OC *bɯn) + semantic 彡.


庚

→ Zhuang: geng

Pictogram (象形) – a flail and a threshing device. See also 康 and 唐.


帖

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tʰeːb): semantic 巾 (“a square item of cloth”) + phonetic 占 (OC *ʔljem, *tjems).


廉

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡ·rem): semantic 广 + phonetic 兼 (OC *keːm, *keːms).

Han compound

亷
㢘
槏
𠪊
𤎉
𠪕
𢉧
𢋯
𠔳


庸

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *loŋ) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): abbreviated semantic 庚 + phonetic 用 (OC *loŋs).


弦

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡeːn): semantic 弓 (“bow”) + phonetic 玄 (OC *ɡʷeːn).


徐

desc

→ English: Xu, Hsu, Chui, Tsui, Zee, Chee

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *lja): semantic 彳 (“walk slowly”) + phonetic 余 (OC *la)

Han compound

徐霞客


幺

Pictogram (象形). Depiction of a silk thread. Compare 糸.


定

→ Thai: เที่ยง (tîiang)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *teːŋs, *deːŋs): semantic 宀 + phonetic 正 (OC *tjeŋ, *tjeŋs)
Possibly related to Burmese တည် (tany, “to lie in repose; to build, form, establish”) (Luce, 1981).


幽

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qɯw): phonetic 𢆶 () + semantic 山 (originally 火 in oracle bone).
Sino-Tibetan. Cognate with Mru [script needed] (iu ~ ʔiu, “dark”) (Löffler, 1966); possibly also related to Tibetan གཡོག (g.yog, “to cover”) and གཡོགས (g.yogs, “lid”) (Schuessler, 2007).
Related to 黝 (yǒu), 窅 (yǎo), 杳 (yǎo), 穾 (yào), 窔 (yào).
Allofam is probably 窈窕 (OC *qiːwʔ l'eːwʔ) (ibid.).


嶺

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *reŋʔ): semantic 山 (“mountain”) + phonetic 領 (OC *reŋʔ).
Compare 陵 (OC *rɯŋ, “mound; hill”).


弁

Ideogram (指事): 厶 + 廾: hands (廾) placing a hat (厶) on someone’s head.
; “cap; to wear a cap; low-ranking military officer; to place before or above”


彭

→ English: Peng, P'eng, Pang, Pee

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 壴 (“drum”) + 彡 (“visualization of the sound of drumming”) – sound of drumming.
Shuowen considers it to be a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声) where 彡 (OC *sroːm, *slom) acts as the phonetic component.

彭德懷

彭德怀


客

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (客):
* → Japanese: 客(きゃく) (kyaku)
* → Korean: 객(客) (gaek)
* → Vietnamese: khách (客)

→ English: Khek (“Hakka”)

→ Proto-Hmong-Mien: *khæk (“guest”)

White Hmong: qhua (“guest”)

→ Lao: ແຂກ (khǣk, “guest”)

desc

→ Thai: แขก (kɛ̀ɛk, “guest”), แคะ (kɛ́, “Hakka”)

→ Vietnamese: Hẹ (“Hakka”)

→ Zhuang: hek (“guest; tourist”), hak (“government official”)

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛ²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛ²¹⁴/

Characters in the same phonetic series (各) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰraːɡ): semantic 宀 (“roof”) + phonetic 各 (OC *klaːɡ) – a guest.
Probably belongs to the word family of 格 (OC *klaːɡ, *kraːɡ, “to go, to come”). Schuessler (2007) cites Tibetan དགྲ (dgra, “enemy”) as a possible cognate.


干

Pictogram (象形) of a shield with feather ornaments on top; in some versions in oracle bones, the central and flat part of the shield can be seen as 回.
As an alternative, it's possible 干 and 單 are variant forms of the same character in oracle bone script due to their similar shapes and its appearence in the original forms of 敢. Hence, 干 would depict a bifurcated hunting weapon, not a shield. But 單 has two dots on top that depict two stones, while these two dots are absent in 干.
Also borrowed phonetically as a simplification of 乾 (dry) and 幹. See also 盾 (the pictogram of another shield) and its possible differentiation 古.
The interpretation that links this pictogram to a pestle is folk etymology. Unrelated to 午, which however represents a pestle.
Sino-Tibetan. Cognate with 扞 (OC *ɡaːns, “to shield; to protect”), 閈 (OC *ɡaːns, “gate”), 捍 (OC *ɡaːns, *ɡraːnʔ, “to shield, ward off”). Compare Tibetan འགལ ('gal, “to go against, to violate, to contradict”), Burmese ကာ (ka, “shield; to shield; to block”).


恪

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰlaːɡ): semantic 忄 (“heart”) + phonetic 各 (OC *klaːɡ).


川

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯än⁵⁵/

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯än⁵⁵/

Pictogram (象形) – compare 水 (OC *qʰʷljilʔ), 川, and 𡿧.
The Middle and Old Chinese reconstruction of this word is phonologically problematic (STEDT):
* Karlgren (1957) notes that the Middle Chinese form is irregular based on evidence from Shijing rimes.
* Based on velar contacts in the same phonetic series, e.g. 巛, 甽 and 訓, Baxter (1992) and Schuessler (2007) reconstruct the word with a velar initial (Handel, 1998; Sagart, 1999), which undergoes irregular palatalization in the development to Middle Chinese (Baxter, 1992).
* Based on other characters in the same phonetic series, e.g. 順 and 馴, Sagart (1999), and later, Baxter and Sagart (2014), reconstructs 川 with a lateral initial and suggests that only a *t- prefix would account for the Middle Chinese initial /t͡ɕʰ/.
Schuessler (2007) relates this word to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kl(j)u(ŋ/k) (“river; valley”), whence 江 (OC *kroːŋ, “river”), 谷 (OC *kloːɡ, “valley”), Tibetan ཀླུང (klung, “river”), Burmese ချောင်း (hkyaung:, “stream”). STEDT notes that this does not account for the *-n coda.
STEDT instead compares it to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-t(w)əj-n ~ m-ti-s (“water; fluid; liquid; river; soak; spit”), whence 涕 (OC *tʰiːlʔ, “tears”), Proto-Kuki-Chin *tuj (“water; fluid; liquid”), Chepang तीः (“water; rain; river”); this depends on a reconstruction with a dental initial and requires positing an *‑n suffix not present in Tibeto-Burman languages.


待

→ Vietnamese: đợi (“to wait for”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *dɯːʔ): semantic 彳 + phonetic 寺 (OC *ljɯs).
Probably related to 等 (MC tongX, “to wait”) (Wang, 1982).
Karlgren (1956) relates this word to 侍 (OC *djɯs, “to serve; to wait upon”).


巧

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰruːʔ, *kʰruːs): semantic 工 + phonetic 丂 (OC *kʰluːʔ)


彩

/t͡sʰaɪ̯²¹⁴/

/t͡sʰɔːi̯³⁵/

/t͡sʰaɪ̯²¹⁴/

/t͡sʰɔːi̯³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰɯːʔ): phonetic 采 (OC *sʰɯːʔ) + semantic 彡.
Possibly from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-tsəw-s/t (“colour; dye”); compare Tibetan ཚོས (tshos, “dye”) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007).
Alternatively, 色 (OC *s.rək, “colour”) may be a dialectal variant (Baxter, 1992; Baxter and Sagart, 2014).


夢

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (夢):
* → Vietnamese: mộng (夢)

Bronze inscriptions
Oracle bone script
Shuowen

In the Oracle bone script, a pictogram (象形) or ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) – a person (人) lying on a bed (爿), sometimes with restless hands (compare the oracle-bone character for 丮) and sometimes with the eye (目) emphasized.
In the Bronze inscriptions, the eye (目) has eyebrows above it (compare 眉), and the person's body is attached underneath, now written as two dots on either side. The bed is no longer present, and instead 夕 (“moon; night”) has been added.
In the modern form 夢, the eyebrows are written 卝, the eyes are written 罒, and the person's body has become 冖, while 夕 remains on the bottom.
According to Shuowen, it is a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mɯŋ, *mɯŋs): phonetic 瞢 (OC *mɯːŋ, *mɯŋ, *mɯŋs) + semantic 夕.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(s/r)-ma(ŋ/k) (“dream”); compare Tibetan རྨང་ལམ (rmang lam, “dream”), Chepang माङः (“dream”), Proto-Lolo-Burmese *s-makᴴ ~ *s-maŋ¹ (“dream”), Mizo mang (“dream”), Japhug tɯ-jmŋo (“dream”) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007; Zhang, Jacques and Lai, 2019).


守

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 宀 (“roof; building”) + 寸 (“hand”); to guard, keep, or defend a place (e.g., a building whose roof is visible on top of the character). It's possible that 寸 (original form of 肘 (OC *tkuʔ)) is also a phonetic component. A more conservative version is 㝊, in which 又 is not a phonetic component.


彘

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'eds): semantic 豕 (“pig; boar”) + phonetic 矢 (OC *hliʔ, “arrow”) – a wild boar being shot by an arrow (as opposed to a domesticated pig)
From Kra-Dai; compare Proto-Kam-Sui *ʔdlaːi⁵ (“wild pig”), Proto-Hlai *C-ləc (“wild boar”) (Schuessler, 2007).


徵

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 彳 (“movement”) + 𭖒 (“knife”) + 攵 (“to strike”) – originally meaning punishment.
Originally written as 𭖒 in oracle bone script; pictogram (象形) of a knife with tooth-shaped protrusions on the back. Variants which added 止 (“foot”) were common. In bronze inscriptions, 彳 was often added to the character as well. In bamboo slips, 止 was replaced with 攵, arriving at the modern form.
Related to 證 (OC *tjɯŋs).


恭

Shuowen: Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kloŋ): phonetic 共 (OC *kloŋ, *ɡloŋs, “heart”) + semantic 心


孫

→ English: Sun, Suen, Soon

→ Tagalog: Suan (via Hokkien), Soon (via Hokkien)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 子 (“son”) + 系 (“continue”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *sju(w)-n (“grandchild”) (STEDT). Cognate with Bodo (India) sou (“grandchild”), Jingpho shu (“grandchild”).

Sun Yat-sen (provisionally served as the first president of the Republic of China)

孫中山

孙中山

a surname, listed third in the Baijiaxing


安

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (安):
* → Japanese: 安(あん) (an)
* → Korean: 안(安) (an)
* → Vietnamese: an (安)

Characters in the same phonetic series (安) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 宀 (“house”) + 女 (“a kneeling woman”) – to be at ease, to be safe.
; calm; peaceful
: Cognate with 按 (OC *qaːns, “to push down with hand”), an exoactive derivative, literally “to cause to be settled; calmed” (ibid.).
: Starostin reconstructs Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ʔɨāɫ (“rest”), comparing it to Mizo âwl (“to rest”) (and also noting Dhimal [script needed] (el-ka, “good”)). STEDT, however, traces the Mizo word to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-grwal ~ *ʔwal (“finish, loose, relax”) and did not list 安 (OC *qaːn) among its comparanda: namely 完 (OC *ɦŋoːn), 緩 (OC *ɢʷaːnʔ), 諼 (OC *qʰʷan, *qʰʷanʔ), 援 (OC *ɢʷans, *ɢʷan).
; where; how

cog

安祿山

安禄山

(historical) a surname. Given to people from the Arsacid or Parthian Empire (安息 or 安國／安国)


忌

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡɯs): phonetic 己 (OC *kɯʔ) + semantic 心 (“heart”).


忙

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *maːŋ): semantic 忄 + phonetic 亡 (OC *maŋ). Doublet of 忘 (OC *maŋ, *maŋs).


妹

→ Khmer: មួយ (muəy, “you”) (used with people of Chinese ethnicity)

→ Thai: หมวย (mǔai, “younger sister”) (said by Chinese ethnicity)

/muːi̯²²⁻⁵⁵/

/muːi̯²²⁻³⁵/

/muːi̯²²⁻⁵⁵/

/muːi̯²²⁻³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mɯːds): semantic 女 (“female, woman”) + phonetic 未 (OC *mɯds).
Probably Sino-Tibetan. Proposed etymologies:
* STEDT relates it to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mi (“girl; female; feminine suffix”), whence Apatani nyimii (“girl; woman; female”), Proto-Loloish *C-mi² (“woman”), Proto-Karen *hmɨᴮ (“female; woman”).
* Schuessler (2007) compares it to Burmese မ (ma., “sister”) (whence အစ်မ (acma., “elder sister”), ညီမ (nyima., “younger sister”)), Miju ku-mai- (“woman”), Tibetan བུད་མེད (bud med, “woman”), and also Mizo hmei (“concubine”) (> Mizo hmei-chhia (“woman; wife”)), which STEDT relates to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-maj (“widow, widower”) instead.


惲

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qunʔ): semantic 忄 (“heart”) + phonetic 軍 (OC *kun).

Han compound

Yun Daiying, early leader of the Communist Party of China

惲代英

恽代英


庵

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qoːm, *qoːb): semantic 广 (“house”) + phonetic 奄 (OC *qromʔ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-jim ~ k-jum (“house; pit; womb”). Cognate with Tibetan ཁྱིམ (khyim, “house”) and Burmese အိမ် (im, “house”).


彌

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mnel): semantic 弓 + phonetic 爾 (OC *njelʔ).


慕

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *maːɡs): phonetic 莫 (OC *maːɡ) + semantic 㣺 (“heart”).


師

CJKV/code

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

→ Vietnamese: thầy

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 𠂤 (“mound, hill”) + 帀 – ancient troops were usually stationed at a hill.
Each of the two components can be used as 師 on their own in preclassical scripts. The significance of 帀 is debated. See also 官 and 追.
Starostin derives this word from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *rij (“many”), cognate with 皆 (OC *kriːj, “all”), 偕 (OC *kriːj, “together with”), as well as Tibetan ཁྲི (khri, “ten thousand”) and Burmese ရဲ (rai:, “police”).

Han compound

师
𠦵
𠵀
𢂖
𢃋
𨸲
𨸴
𩇱


慎

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djins): semantic 忄 (“heart”) + phonetic 真 (OC *ʔljin) – a behavior trait (heart), care, caution. Note that 真 means “truth, genuine, sincerity”, hence connotations of “acting sincerely, with care”.

Han compound

愼
㥲
昚
眘
𡴜
𦚉
𡸱


忽

Historically and academically considered a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hmɯːd): phonetic 勿 (OC *mɯd) + semantic 心 (“heart”). Incorrectly colloquially explained as an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 勿 (“not”) + 心 (“heart”).


左

Originally written 𠂇 and 䶹 in the oracle bone script: Pictogram (象形) – a left hand. Compare 又 (“right hand”).
Late bronze inscription forms show an added 工 (“work; to assist?”) component, making the current form a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsaːlʔ, *ʔsaːls) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): phonetic 𠂇 (, “left hand”) + semantic 工 (“work”), representing the original form of 佐 (OC *ʔsaːls, “to assist”).
Cognate with 佐 (OC *ʔsaːls, “to assist”) (< be on one's left side); mirror of the semantic relationship between 右 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ, “right”) and 佑 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “to assist”) (Schuessler, 2007).
Unrelated to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *b(w)aj (“left (hand)”) (STEDT).
; “(politics) left-wing”

ncog

Zuo Zongtang (Qing dynasty Chinese statesman and military leader)

左宗棠


惠

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷiːds): phonetic 叀 () + semantic 心 (“heart”). Originally also written 叀.
Related to 唯 (OC *ɢʷi, “to be”). Its usual meaning "kind, compliant" could be semantically extended from "should be" > "to consider / treat as it should / ought to be, as expected" as copulas tend to expand into full verb (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

僡
恵
𠅤
叀
𢞯
𢡘
𢥁
𢞨
𦻇
𢠞
𦣽
㥣


惠

僡
恵
𠅤
叀
𢞯
𢡘
𢥁
𢞨
𦻇
𢠞
𦣽
㥣


悟

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋaːs): semantic 忄 + phonetic 吾 (OC *ŋraː, *ŋaː).


島

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (島):
* → Japanese: 島(とう) (tō)
* → Korean: 도(島) (do)
* → Vietnamese: đảo (島)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tuːwʔ): phonetic 鳥 (OC *tɯːwʔ) + semantic 山 (“mountain”).
Reminiscent of Mon လ္ကံ (from Proto-Mon-Khmer *tkɔɔʔ), but probably not related (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

岛
㠀
嶋
嶌
隝
嶹
隯


慈

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zɯ): phonetic 茲 (OC *ʔsɯ, *zɯ) + semantic 心 (“heart”).


延

Originally 㢟, an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 彳 (“walking”) + 止 (“foot”) – "to travel far". The stroke at the top started being added as a distinguishing mark at the end of the Warring States period, as a way to distinguish its usage from 㢟 as an adverb to mean "prolonged", making it an Ideogram (指事).
Shuowen Jiezi interprets it as phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *lan, *lans): phonetic 丿 (OC *pʰleːd, *leds) + semantic 㢟.
Within Chinese, cognate with 筵 (OC *lan, “bamboo mat”), 梴 (OC *l̥ʰan, “long (of wood)”) and 誕 (OC *l'aːnʔ, “wide; ludicrous”) (Schuessler, 2007). Cognate with Burmese လှန်း (hlan:, “to dry (things) in the sun”). Probably unrelated to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *jaːr (“spread; extend; sail”), whence Tibetan གཡོར་མོ (g.yor mo, “sail”), Mizo zâr (“to spread; to spread out”), Jingpho yàn (“spread; unrolled”).
Pan (1987) suggests Vietnamese lan (“to spread”) is borrowed from Old Chinese 延 (OC *lan, *lans).


廣

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (廣):
* → Japanese: 広(こう) (kō)
* → Korean: 광(廣) (gwang)
* → Vietnamese: quảng (廣)

→ Ahom: 𑜀𑜡𑜂𑜫 (kāṅ, “width,measure”)

→ Bouyei: gvaangs

→ Lao: ກວ້າງ (kuāng, “wide, broad”)

→ Thai: กว้าง (gwâang, “wide, broad”)

→ Northern Thai: ᨠ᩠ᩅ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨦ

→ Lü: ᦦᦱᧂᧉ (k̇waang²)

→ Shan: ၵႂၢင်ႈ (kwāang)

→ Zhuang: gvangq

Characters in the same phonetic series (黃) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʷaːŋʔ): semantic 广 + phonetic 黃 (OC *ɡʷaːŋ).


志

Sino-Xenic (志):
* → Vietnamese: chí (志)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjɯs): phonetic 之 (OC *tjɯ) + semantic 心.
Note that the top has been simplified and is now graphically 士.
From 之 (OC *tjɯ, “to go; to proceed”) + endopassive suffix *-s, literally “what is being proceeded to” (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

𢖽
𢗍
*誌
*識
痣
䏯


戈

Pictogram (象形) ― an ancient weapon with a single blade. The vertical handle developed into the long upper-left to lower-right diagonal stroke.
See also 我, which is the same weapon but with three blades instead of one, making it similar to a trident.


恩

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (恩):
* → Japanese: 恩(おん) (on)

→ Vietnamese: ơn

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qɯːn): phonetic 因 (OC *qin) + semantic 心 (“heart”).


好

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (好):
* → Japanese: 好(こう) (kō)
* → Korean: 호(好) (ho)
* → Vietnamese: hiếu (好)

Characters in the same phonetic series (好) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 女 (“woman”) + 子 (“child”).
The widely accepted meaning of this character is that the characters for “female” (女) and “child” (子) were put together to form a compound because it was good for a woman to have a child. Similarly, it has been proposed that the compound originally refers to the mutual affection between the mother and child, which then extended to mean “good”. These theories are supported by the smaller 子 found in some oracle bones and bronze inscriptions. See also 保 and the original version of 乳.
However, broader interpretations of the second character 子 could lead to other theories. 子 could also mean “son”, so it may have meant two children, a boy and a girl next to each other, which is a good fortune to have a boy and a girl. 子 could also mean “man”, so it may have referred to the love between a man and a woman, which is good. Duan Yucai, in his annotated version of Shuowen, interpreted it as originally referring to the beauty of woman. Lastly, it could mean that the “attitude” of a girl was considered good.
The two pronunciations are cognate – pronunciation 2 is the *-s suffixed form, or exoactive/putative of pronunciation 1, literally “to consider good”. Compare 惡 (OC *qaːɡ, “bad; evil”) > 惡 (OC *qaːɡs, “to consider bad; to hate”).
This word has been compared with Proto-Sino-Tibetan *hu (“to raise; to rear; to nourish”): Proto-Lolo-Burmese *hu³, Abor-Miri (Tani) u, Mawo Northern Qiang χu, which is only attested in a limited number of languages. If this is correct, it may be related to 畜 (OC *l̥ʰuɡs, *l̥ʰuɡ, *hluɡ, “to raise; to rear; domesticated animal”). Alternatively, compare Tibetan མཁོ (mkho, “necessary, important”).
Cognate with Central Bai hux (“good”), which may be a loanword from Chinese.

cog

⿰女人
㚥
⿱女子
𡥃
𰠗
㝀
𡚽
𡥆
𢑒
𤫧
𩐔


懂

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *toːŋʔ): semantic 心 (“heart”) + phonetic 董 (OC *toːŋʔ).
Perhaps cognate with 黨 (OC *taːŋʔ, “to know”), an ancient Chu dialect word (Schuessler, 2007).


戎

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 盾 (“shield”) + 戈 (“halberd; weapons”) – weaponry, arms.
; “you”
; “bellicose, warlike”


念

Characters in the same phonetic series (今) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Shuowen: Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *nɯːms): phonetic 今 (OC *krɯm) + semantic 心 (“heart”).
Alternatively: Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 今 + 心 (see: 張富海：《利用諧聲構擬上古音應該註意的幾個問題》，《出土文獻》，2021年第1期，頁134。)
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-njam. Cognate with Tibetan ཉམ (nyam), ཉམས (nyams, “soul, mind, heart”), སྙམ (snyam, “to think, to feel”) (Quan, 1996). Related to 恁 (OC *njɯm, *njɯmʔ, “to think, to miss”).
Schuessler (2007) notes it may be an area word; compare Khmer ចំណាំ (cɑmnam, “memory; recollection”), Proto-Austronesian *nemnem (“to think”).


戴

In the oracle bone script, a pictogram (象形) of a person holding something on their head with both hands. Possibly originally the same character as 異 (“person wearing a mask” or “person carrying something on their head”), see there for more.
Later, a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声), with 異 (OC *lɯɡs) serving as the semantic (and also possibly phonetic) component, and either 弋 (OC *lɯɡ), 𢦏 (OC *ʔslɯː), or 之 (OC *tjɯ) acting as a phonetic component.

戴季陶


抑

Pictogram (象形): A hand suppressing a kneeling person. For contrast, see 印 (yìn).


戚

/t͡sʰiɪk̚³²/

/t͡sʰiɪk̚³²/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰlɯːwɢ): semantic 戊 (“scythe”) + phonetic 尗 (OC *hljɯwɢ) – in early sense, a battle-axe, a kind of cutting weapon.

Han compound

戚繼光

戚继光