臺

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (臺):
* → Japanese: 台(だい) (dai)
* → Korean: 대(臺) (dae)
* → Vietnamese: đài (臺)

Bamboo_and_wooden_slips
Chu_(state)
Han dynasty
Jin (Chinese state)
Oracle bone inscriptions
Qin
Shuowen Jiezi
Shuowen Jiezi Zhu
seal script

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): abbreviated 喬 + 室.
Its exact structure changes depending on region and time period, but for most of its existence it has been a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声). The phonetic has always been 之 (OC *tjɯ) or 止 (OC *kjɯʔ).
: Oracle bone inscriptions: phonetic 之 (OC *tjɯ) + 宀.
: Chu slips: phonetic 之 (OC *tjɯ) + 室
: Jin slips:
:* Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): abbreviated 喬 + 室. This is the modern form inherited by Han seal script.
:* Phonetic 止 (OC *kjɯʔ) + abbreviated 室
:* Phonetic 之 (OC *tjɯ) + 室
: Qin dynasty: Phonetic 止 (OC *kjɯʔ) + 高 + 室
Shuowen Jiezi interprets it as ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 之 (“foot”) + abbreviated 高 (“high”) + 室 (“building”) – a watch tower. The Shuowen Jiezi Zhu considers 㞢 (*tjɯ) to be the sound component.


蔭

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qrɯms): semantic 艹 + phonetic 陰 (OC *qrɯm).


虢

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 攴 + 虎 or 爪 + 攴 + 虎.
One theory considers this character a pictogram (象形): two hands (寽 (lǜ)) opening tiger (虎)'s fur, thus an original glyph of 鞹 (kuò). (Lin Yiguang)
Shuowen: Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʷraːɡ): phonetic 寽 (OC *rud) + semantic 虎 (“tiger”). However, this is not generally considered likely.


薩

Evolved from some variant of 薛.
The surname originated from the Hui artist 薩都剌 (Sadula) in Yuan dynasty and was clipping of his original name.


藺

藺相如

蔺相如


蚳

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *dil): semantic 虫 (“insect”) + phonetic 氐 (OC *tiːl, *til).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d(w)əy (“egg; testicle”) (STEDT).


蔓

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *moːn, *mons): semantic 艸 (“grass”) + phonetic 曼 (OC *moːn, *mons).


良

Pictogram (象形). Possibly depicts corridors and a room, in which case it would be the original form of 廊. See also the top component of 复. Unrelated to 食 and 即.
Possibly from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *l(j)a(k/ŋ) (“good, beautiful”).


耳

Characters in the same phonetic series (耳) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – an ear.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r/g-na (“ear”).


美

CJKV/code

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

Pictogram (象形) – a person (大) wearing a headdress (now written 羊) of feathers or ram's horn.
The modern form could be considered an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 羊 (“ram or feathers”) + 大 (“person”).
See also 敖, 冒, and 免.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mwaj (“beautiful, well, perfectly”) (STEDT).
According to Schuessler (2007), cognate with Mizo mawi (“beautiful, lovely”), Jingpho moi (“perfectly, beautifully”) as well as Karbi me- (“be good”) and Jingpho cha mai (“good”); the former two items from *moy "beautiful" and the latter from *may "good, well", which were two roots reconstructed separately by Benedict (1972).


蘄

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡɯ, *kɯl, *ɡɯn): semantic 艸 (“grass”) + phonetic 𰕣 ().


藩

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pan, *ban): semantic 艸 (“grass”) + phonetic 潘 (OC *pʰaːn)


船

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (船):
* → Japanese: 船(ぜん) (zen); 船(せん) (sen)
* → Korean: 선(船) (seon)
* → Vietnamese: thuyền (船)

→ Manchu: ᠴᡠᠸᠠᠨ (cuwan)

→ Yukjin Korean: 촨 (chwan)

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯än³⁵/

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯än³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɦljon): semantic 舟 (“boat”) + phonetic 㕣 (OC *lon).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-lawŋ (“boat”). Compare Burmese လောင်း (laung:, “long and narrow boat”), and Mizo lawng (“boat or ship”).
Sagart (1999) interprets Old Chinese 船 (OC *ɦljon) as a nominal derivate of the verb 沿 (OC *lon, “to go downstream a river”). The Fangyan states that this word was commonly used in western China, but, by Han times, it had completely displaced the earlier 舟 (OC *tjɯw), used in central and eastern China.
Alternatively, the Proto-Sino-Tibetan root could be a loan from Proto-Mon-Khmer *d₂lu(u)ŋ ~ *d₂l(u)əŋ (“boat”), whence Mon ဂၠုၚ် (klɜ̀ŋ, “canoe, small boat”), perhaps a derivate of Proto-Mon-Khmer *luŋh ~ *luuŋh ~ *ləŋh (“to hollow, excavate, bore”), see Khmer លុង (lung, “to dig a hole”) and Vietnamese trũng (“concave”) (Sidwell, 2006; Schuessler, 2007).


英

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qraŋ): semantic 艹 (“grass”) + phonetic 央 (OC *qaŋ).
Uncertain. There are several possibilities:
* Of Sino-Tibetan origin, related to Mizo ân (“to open the mouth to receive food, to open to”), âng (“to open (mouth), to gape with open mouth”); if so, this word would come from the idea of an open flower (Schuessler, 2007);
* Related to Mizo êng (“light”), ên (“to shine, to give light, bright, brilliant”) (Schuessler, 2007);
* Related to Proto-Bahnaric *ʔaːŋ (“bright”) (from Proto-Mon-Khmer *cʔaiŋ (“light, to shine”)), which may be also/instead related to 影 (OC *qraŋʔ, “shadow”) (Schuessler, 2007);
* Related to 秧 (OC *qaŋ, *qaŋʔ, “rice seedling”) (Sagart, 2011).

cog

Ying Bu (warlord and vassal king who lived in the early Han dynasty)

英布


蓬

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *boːŋ): semantic 艸 (“vegetation”) + phonetic 逢 (OC *boŋ).


菊

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (菊):
* → Japanese: 菊(きく) (kiku)
* → Korean: 국(菊) (guk)
* → Vietnamese: cúc (菊)

Characters in the same phonetic series (匊) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kuɡ): semantic 艹 + phonetic 匊 (OC *kluɡ).


藇

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sla, *ljaʔ, *la, *laʔ, *las): semantic 艹 (“grass”) + phonetic 與 (OC *la, *laʔ, *las).


虔

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³⁵/

According to the Shuowen Jiezi, Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡren): phonetic 文 (OC *mɯn) + semantic 虍.
According to Li Xueqin (2012), the phonetic component is instead 虍 (OC *qʰaː).


藻

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsaːwʔ): semantic 艹 (“plant”) + phonetic 澡 (OC *ʔslaːwʔ).


薜

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *beːɡs, *preːɡ): semantic 艸 (“grass; plant”) + phonetic 辟 (OC *peɡ, *pʰeɡ, *beɡ).


蘆

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


蒙

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *moːŋ): semantic 艹 (“grass”) + phonetic 冡 (OC *moːŋ)
STEDT compares it to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *muːŋ ~ r/s-muːk (“foggy; dark; sullen; menacing; thunder”).

inh

William Mong Man-wai (Hong Kong businessman)

蒙民偉

蒙民伟


萌

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mreːŋ): semantic 艹 (“grass; plant”) + phonetic 明 (OC *mraŋ).
; “to bud; to begin”
; “moe”


能

Characters in the same phonetic series (能) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形): bear. Compare 熊 (OC *ɢʷlɯm, “bear”). In the character, two paws are visible as a pair of 匕 and the face with the open mouth is stylized as 月.
; "bear-like animal"
; “be able to; can; ability”
: Possibly Proto-Sino-Tibetan (which STEDT tentatively reconstructs as *m-nyaŋ (“can, be able”)): compare Tibetan ནུས (nus, “to be able to; capable; to withstand; capacity; strength; force; power; function; energy”), Burmese နိုင် (nuing, “can, be able to, may; master; win; prevail”). Schuessler (2007) also derives 態 (OC *n̥ʰɯːs, “apparition, bearing, manner”) from this; see also 忍 (OC *njɯnʔ, “to suffer, endure”).
: Compare the old pre-Sino–Vietnamese loanword nổi (“be able to; capable”).


虞

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋʷa): semantic 虍 (“tiger”) + phonetic 吳 (OC *ŋʷaː).


蛾

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋaːl, *ŋralʔ): semantic 虫 (“insect”) + phonetic 我 (OC *ŋaːlʔ).


蟜

/t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴/


蕉

/t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsew): semantic 艹 (“grass; plant”) + phonetic 焦 (OC *ʔsew).


羽

CJKV/code

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

⇒ Translingual: Yutyrannus

Pictogram (象形): wings or feathers.
Either from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-grwa (“feather”), whence Tibetan སྒྲོ (sgro, “large feather”) (Coblin, 1986; Gong Hwang-cherng, 2002; STEDT), or *w(a/u) (“bird; egg; wing; fowl”) (Matisoff, 2000; Schuessler, 2007; Sagart, 2021b; STEDT).


莫

Pictogram (象形) – the sun (日) sinking into the bushes (屮); dusk. Original form of 暮 (OC *maːɡs, “dusk”).
The bottom was later distorted into 大.
From 無 (OC *ma, “there is no”) + distributive suffix *-k (Schuessler, 2007).

𦶛
𦱤
䒬
勿
嘜
麥
賣
甭
⿰勿愛*


芝

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjɯ): semantic 艹 (“grass”) + phonetic 之 (OC *tjɯ) – a type of plant.


薄

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *baːɡ): semantic 艹 + phonetic 溥 (OC *pʰaːʔ, *paːɡ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ba (“thin; flat”) (STEDT). Cognate with Burmese ပါး (pa:, “thin”), Jingpho pha (pha³¹, “thin”).

Han compound

薄一波


藕

desc

→ Proto-Southwestern Tai: *ʰŋawꟲ (“central root”)

Ahom: 𑜂𑜧 (ṅaw), 𑜂𑜨𑜧 (ṅow), 𑜂𑜧𑜈𑜫 (ṅaww)

Lao: ເຫງົ້າ (ngao)

Lü: ᦄᧁᧉ (ṅgaw²)

Northern Thai: ᩉ᩠ᨦᩮᩢ᩶ᩣ

Shan: ငဝ်ႈ (ngāo)

Thai: เหง้า (ngâo)

→ Vietnamese: ngó (“lotus root”)

→ Zhuang: ngaeux (“lotus; lotus root”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋoːʔ): semantic 艸 (“grass”) + phonetic 耦 (OC *ŋoːʔ).


袁

In oracle bone script, ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 衣 (“clothes”) + 又 (“hand”) – "to put on clothes; to wear", representing the original form of 擐 (OC *ɡʷraːns) (Qiu, 1985, Chi, 2014). Some variant forms added 〇 (the earliest form of 圓 (OC *ɢon, “circle”), now written 口) as a sound component. The component 又 has corrupted into 㞢 in seal script and 土 in clerical script.

袁世凱

袁世凯

袁隆平


蛸

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sreːw, *sew): semantic 虫 + phonetic 肖 (OC *slew, *slews).


衷

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tuŋ, *tuŋs): semantic 衣 (“clothes”) + phonetic 中 (OC *tuŋ, *tuŋs, “middle; center”).
Related to 中 (OC *tuŋ, *tuŋs, “middle; centre”); see there for more.


藤

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'ɯːŋ): semantic 艸 (“grass”) + phonetic 滕 (OC *l'ɯːŋ) – a type of plant.


裴

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *buːl, *bɯl): phonetic 非 (OC *pɯl) + semantic 衣 (“clothing”).

Han compound

Pei Songzhi (Chinese historian that made annotations to the Records of the Three Kingdoms)

裴松之


裔

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *leds): semantic 衣 (“cloth”) + phonetic 㕯 ().
;border
;posterity, descendants


舌

→ Proto-Hmong-Mien: *mblet

Characters in the same phonetic series (舌) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – a forked tongue emerging upwards from a mouth (口). See also 言 and 音. Unrelated to 舍, in which it represents a hut.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s/m-l(j)a-t (“tongue”); compare Western Magar मेलेट (melet, “tongue”), Jingpho shinglet (“tongue”) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2009). The reconstruction of a complex initial *m(ə)-l- in Old Chinese is based on evidence from the softened initial in Proto-Min as well as Proto-Hmong-Mien *mblet (“tongue”) (Schuessler, 2007; Baxter and Sagart, 2014).
Alternatively, Schuessler (2007), reconstructing the Old Chinese minimally as *m-lat, derives it from 舐 (OC *m-leʔ, “to lick”) + *-t (“nominal suffix for natural objects”), literally “licker”.


衍

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 行 (“path; way; to go; to move”) + 水 (“water”).


褚

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *taʔ, *tʰaʔ): semantic 衣 (“clothing”) + phonetic 者 (OC *tjaːʔ).


裳

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djaŋ): phonetic 尚 (OC *djaŋ, *djaŋs) + semantic 衣 (“clothing”).


衡

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡraːŋ): phonetic 行 (OC *ɡaːŋ, *ɡaːŋs, *ɡraːŋ, *ɡraːŋs) + semantic 角 (“horn”) + semantic 大 (“big”).


葛

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kaːd): semantic 艹 + phonetic 曷 (OC *ɡaːd).

Han compound

葛洪


藥

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (藥):
* → Japanese: 薬(やく) (yaku)
* → Korean: 약(藥) (yak)
* → Vietnamese: dược (藥)

→ Kavalan: iyu

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *lawɢ): semantic 艹 (“grass”) + phonetic 樂 (OC *ŋraːwɢs, *raːwɢ, *ŋraːwɢ).
According to Schuessler (2007), either:
* related to Mizo hlo (“a weed, drug, medicine”), or
* cognate to 療 (OC *rews, “to treat, to cure”), thus beloning to the same word family as 瀹 (OC *lowɢ), 爍 (OC *qʰljawɢ).


襄

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *snaŋ): phonetic 𤕦 () + semantic 衣 (Li Xueqin, 2012). However, the original version on oracle bones resembles a man with raised hands while undressing; later, a hand and the radical of the cloth were added.
; “to remove”


裹

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kloːlʔ, *kloːls): semantic 衣 (“clothes”) + phonetic 果 (OC *kloːlʔ).
Compare with Tibetan སྐོར (skor, “to encircle; to surround; to go around”) (Hill, 2014).


衙

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋraː, *ŋa, *ŋaʔ): semantic 行 + phonetic 吾 (OC *ŋraː, *ŋaː).
From 牙 (MC ngae, “tooth”)

Han compound

In the recent era, the official court is commonly known as gongya ("official tooth"), which is gongchao ("official court") in ancient times. The character is originally 牙. The Classic of Poetry says, "Qifu, we are the claws and teeth of the king." Qifu is the minister of war, who is in charge of weaponry and, like a ferocious beast, defends using his claws and teeth. Hence the large banner before the army is known as the "tooth banner"; when sending the troops out, the tooth banner is erected and offered sacrifices; when listening to military orders, the army must be under the tooth banner; this is no different from the government office. In recent times, military affairs are commonly revered, so the gongfu is known as gongya and the fumen is known as yamen. The character has changed into 衙.

Tang dynasty, 封演 (Feng Yan), 《封氏聞見記》 (Master Feng's Records of Things Heard and Seen)

Jìndài tōng wèi fǔtíng wèi gōngyá, gōngyá jí gǔ zhī gōngcháo yě. Zì běn zuò “yá”. “Shī” yuē: “Qífù yǔ wáng zhī zhǎoyá.” Qífù, sīmǎ, zhǎng wǔbèi, xiàng měngshòu, yǐ zhǎoyá wèi wèi. Gù jūn qián dà qí wèi zhī “yáqí”, chūshī zé yǒu jiànyá, màyá zhī shì, jūn zhōng tīng hàolìng, bì zhì yáqí zhī xià, chēng yǔ fǔcháo wú yì. Jìn sú shàngwǔ, shì yǐ tōng hū gōngfǔ wèi gōngyá, fǔmén wèi yámén. Zì chēng ébiàn, zhuǎn ér wèi “yá” yě.

近代通謂府廷為公衙，公衙即古之公朝也。字本作「牙」。《詩》曰：「祈父予王之爪牙。」祈父，司馬，掌武備，象猛獸，以爪牙為衛。故軍前大旗謂之「牙旗」，出師則有建牙、禡牙之事，軍中聽號令，必至牙旗之下，稱與府朝無異。近俗尚武，是以通呼公府為公牙，府門為牙門。字稱訛變，轉而為「衙」也。

近代通谓府廷为公衙，公衙即古之公朝也。字本作「牙」。《诗》曰：「祈父予王之爪牙。」祈父，司马，掌武备，象猛兽，以爪牙为卫。故军前大旗谓之「牙旗」，出师则有建牙、祃牙之事，军中听号令，必至牙旗之下，称与府朝无异。近俗尚武，是以通呼公府为公牙，府门为牙门。字称讹变，转而为「衙」也。


訇

Characters in the same phonetic series (匀) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡʷiːn, *qʰʷreːŋ): abbreviated phonetic 勻 (OC *ɢʷin) + semantic 言.


襲

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ljɯb): phonetic 龖 (OC *l'ɯːb) + semantic 衣 (“cloth”).
The bronze inscription and Shuowen zhouwen forms were in the form of 𧟟. The Shuowen small seal script form and subsquent forms are in the form of 襲, as the phonetic component 龖 has been reduced to 龍.


處

Sino-Xenic (處):
* → Vietnamese: xử (處)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰljaʔ, *kʰljas): phonetic 虍 (OC *qʰaː) + semantic 夂 + semantic 几 (“table”).
In Starostin, this is reconstructed as *thaʔ in Old Chinese and subsumed under Proto-Sino-Tibetan *dhăH (/*thăH) (“to put; to place”), whence also 署 (OC *djas, “to place; to position”), Tibetan གདའ (gda', “to be; to be there”), གདན (gdan, “seat; residence”) and Burmese ထား (hta:, “to put; to place”).
With the original *–l– initial, compare Proto-Tamangic *ᴮglaː/ᴬglaː (“place”), Mizo tla, tlat (“to be; to exist; to live; to remain”) (Schuessler, 2007).
居 (OC *kɯ, *kas) may be related (Schuessler, 2007).

cog

处
処
䖏
𠙚
𧇤
𩂭
𩂫
𠁅


若

Pictogram (象形) – a person combing their hair; obedient.
Later 口 was added and the original component came to be written 叒.
; “you; your”
; "like this; such; if"
; "that"


裘

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡʷɯ): phonetic 求 (OC *ɡu) + semantic 衣 (“clothes”).
Probably Sino-Tibetan. Various comparanda have been proposed:
* Tibetan གྲུ (gru, “boat (of inflated hides)”) (Bodman, 1980);
* Tamang [Term?] (¹kuri, “skin”) (Schuessler, 2007);
* Tibetan གོས (gos, “clothes”), Japhug ŋga (“to wear”) (Zhang, Jacques and Lai, 2019).

cog

裘錫圭

裘锡圭


藍

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (藍):
* → Japanese: 藍(らん) (ran)
* → Korean: 람(藍) (ram)
* → Vietnamese: lam (藍)

desc

→ Proto-Hmong-Mien: *ŋglam ~ ŋgram (“indigo”)

White Hmong: nkaj

→ Proto-Tai: *g.raːmᴬ (“indigo”)

Thai: คราม (kraam)

Lao: ຄາມ (khām)

Zhuang: gyaemq (“purple-red”)

→ Proto-Tai: *kromꟲ (“indigo”)

Thai: ฮ่อม (hɔ̂ɔm)

Zhuang: romj, goromj

→? Proto-Vietic: *ɟaːm (“indigo”)

Muong: chàm

Vietnamese: chàm

→ Khmer: ត្រុំ (trom)

→ Zhuang: lamz

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡ·raːm): semantic 艸 (“grass”) + phonetic 監 (OC *kraːm, *kraːms).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-ram (“indigo”); cognate with Lepcha ᰛᰤᰨᰮ (ryom), Mru [script needed] (charam), Tibetan རམས (rams, “indigo”) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007; Hill, 2019). However, Laufer (1916) considers the Tibetan word to be borrowed from Chinese.
Schuessler (2007) considers this an areal word, possibly from Southeast Asia; cf. Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taʀum (“indigo plant and dye”) (> Malay tarum).

cog

Burmese ခရမ်း (hka.ram:, “purple, violet”)

藍玉

蓝玉


藏

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zaːŋ, *zaːŋs): semantic 艸 (“grass”) + phonetic 臧 (OC *ʔsaːŋ).
Baxter and Sagart (2014) reconstructs 藏 (OC *m-tsʰˤaŋ, “to store”) with an *m- prefix, which changes 倉 (OC *tsʰˁaŋ, “granary”) into a volitional verb. Cognate with Tibetan གསང (gsang, “secret; conceal”), འཚང ('tshang, “to press into”) (Schuessler, 2007); STEDT provisionally reconstructs Proto-Tibeto-Burman *C-(t)saŋ (“to bury; to conceal”).

cog

蔵
匨
𢧿
蔵
匨
𢧿
蔵
茺
潛
汆
葱


蓋

→ Japanese: 蓋し (kedashi) (calque)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kaːbs, *kaːb, *ɡaːb): semantic 艸 (“grass”) + phonetic 盍 (OC *ɡaːb) — a thatch.
盍 is the original character for the “cover” sense. However, because this original character was borrowed to mean “why not”, the scope of senses for 蓋 expanded to include the “cover” sense (and its extended meanings).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(g/k)wap (“to cover, incubate, hatch”). Within Chinese, compare:
* 盍 (OC *ɡaːb, “to join, unite; door leaf”)
* 閤 (OC *kuːb, “small gate”)
* 蛤 (OC *kuːb, “oyster, mussel”)
* 合 (OC *kuːb, *ɡuːb, “to join, unite; harmony; to close, shut”)
* 洽 (OC *ɡruːb, “to unite, assemble; to accord with”)
* 翕 (OC *qʰrub, “united, harmonious”)
Outside of Sinitic, cognate with Mizo [Term?] (hûap, “to include, to take in, to cover, to embrace, to apply to”). The Sino-Tibetan root is likely allofamic with Proto-Tibeto-Burman *ʔup (“idem”), the latter whence Burmese အုပ် (up, “to cover”) (STEDT).


街

→ Bouyei: gaail

→ White Hmong: kev

→ Zhuang: gai

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kreː, *kreː): semantic 行 + phonetic 圭 (OC *kʷeː).
Originally, the phonetic component is not related to the concept of earth (土) since in its original form it represents a pair of ritual axes perhaps made of jade 士. Hence, the link to the concept of earth in this character and 厓 either comes from folk etymology or its appearence in the Small Seal script.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r/g-wa (“village”) (STEDT); see 里 (OC *rɯʔ, “village”) for more.


詹

desc

→ English: Zhan, Chan, Cham, Chiam, Tsim, Chim

Zhan Tianyou (Chinese railroad engineer)

詹天佑


衛

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷads): semantic 行 + phonetic 韋 (OC *ɢʷɯl).

Han compound

Wei Lihuang (Chinese general who served the Nationalist government)

衛立煌

卫立煌


紅

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡoːŋ): semantic 糸 (“silk”) + phonetic 工 (OC *koːŋ).
彤 (OC *l'uːŋ, “red”) could be a variant of 紅 (OC *ɡoːŋ) (Schuessler, 2007). May be related to 虹 (OC *kroːŋs, *ɡoːŋ, “rainbow”).
Originally referred to lighter shades of red; gradually replaced 赤 (chì, “red”) as the basic color term for "red".


觸

/t͡sʰiɔk̚³²/

/t͡sʰiɪk̚³²/

/t͡sʰiɔk̚³²/

/t͡sʰiɪk̚³²/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tʰjoɡ): semantic 角 + phonetic 蜀 (OC *djoɡ).
Compare Tibetan གཏུག (gtug, “to meet; to touch”) (Hill, 2019). An older theory by STEDT compares the word with Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m/r-tuk (“to cut, knock, pound”), and compares the first two syllables of Burmese တောက်တောက်ကြော် (tauktaukkrau, “fried minced meat”), as well as a wide range of Sinitic words:
* 擣 (OC *tuːʔ, “to beat, pound rice”)
* 殊 (OC *to, *djo, “to cut off, die”)
* 祝 (OC *tjuɡs, *tjuɡ, “to cut off, pray”)
* 斵, 斫 (OC *tjaɡ, “to chop, carve, chisel, break open”)
* 椓 (“to beat, strike”)
* 啄 (OC *rtoːɡ, *toːɡ, “to peck”)
* 斀 (OC *rtoːɡ, “to castrate”)
* 誅 (OC *to, “to reprove, punish, kill”)
* 咮 (OC *tu, *tus, *tos, *tjo, “beak; to peck”)
* 斸 (OC *toɡ, “to cut, cut out”)
The internet slang sense is a phonetic borrowing from English true.

cog

တောက်တောက်ကြော်


謇

/t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴/


蘇

Sino-Xenic (蘇):
* → Japanese: 蘇(そ) (so)

→ English: Su, So, Sou, Soh, Soo

→ Tagalog: So (via Hokkien)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sŋaː): semantic 艸 (“grass; plant”) + phonetic 穌 (OC *sŋaː).
; Cantonese "socket"

Han compound

蘇軾／苏轼 ― Sū Shì ― Su Shi (Song dynasty writer)


謂

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢuds): semantic 訁 + phonetic 胃 (OC *ɢuds).


諶

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡljum): semantic 言 (“speech”) + phonetic 甚 (OC *ɡljumʔ, *ɡljums).

Han compound

諶龍

谌龙


菜

/t͡sʰɔːi̯³³/

/t͡sʰɔːi̯³³/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰɯːs): semantic 艹 (“grass; plant”) + phonetic 采 (OC *sʰɯːʔ).
From 采 (OC *sʰɯːʔ, “to gather; to pluck”) + nominalizing *-s, literally “what is gathered or plucked” (Sagart, 1999; Schuessler, 2007). See 采 for more.

冬菜

preserved dried cabbage or mustard greens; winter vegetable


謳

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qoː): semantic 言 + phonetic 區 (OC *qoː, *kʰo)


蘭

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡ·raːn): semantic 艹 (“plant”) + phonetic 闌 (OC *ɡ·raːn).


訾

Han char

訾 (Kangxi radical 149, 言+5, 12 strokes, cangjie input 卜心卜一口 (YPYMR), four-corner 2160₁, composition ⿱此言)


訾

訿
啙
𧩢
𢋀
𤺒
呰
𤺒
訿


譙

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡sʰiːu̯²¹/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡sʰiːu̯²¹/


華

Pictogram (象形); this was the original form of 花 (OC *hʷraː, “flower”). In the bronze inscription form, the top part of the glyph resembles flowers of a plant, and the bottom part (于) resembles its stalk and leaves. Also phono-semantic (形聲／形声), with 于 (OC *ɢʷa) functioning as the phonetic part. In the seal script, 艸 (“grass; plant”) was added as a semantic component.
華 (𦻏) and 𠌶 were initially the same character, but they were erroneously split in Shuowen into two entries.

華羅庚

华罗庚


補

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *paːʔ): semantic 衤 (“clothes”) + phonetic 甫 (OC *paʔ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s/m-p(ʷ)a (“to patch; to mend; to sew”) (STEDT); compare Burmese ဖာ (hpa, “to patch; to mend”), Jingpho pa (pa³¹, “mended”).
According to Schuessler (2007), 補 (OC *paːʔ) is an area word; compare Khmer ប៉ះ (pah, “to mend; to patch; to fix”), Proto-Vietic *k-paːʔ (“to repair; to sew”).


謬

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-kiː(l/r) (“to bend; to wind; to twist; to roll”), i.e. “to twist words; to twist the truth”. Related to 糾 (OC *krɯwʔ, “to entangle”), 絞 (OC *kreːwʔ, “to twist; to strangle”), 摎 (OC *krɯːw, “to strangle”).


葉

→ English: Ye, Yeh, Yip, Ip, Yap, Yeap

→ Tagalog: Yap

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hljeb, *leb): semantic 艸 (“grass”) + phonetic 枼 (OC *leb, “flat”).
Possibly also ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) with 枼 (“leaf”) also acting as a semantic component.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-lap (“leaf”). Cognate with Tibetan ལོ་མ (lo ma, “leaf”), Western Tibetan ལོབ་མ (lob ma, “leaf”), Jingpho lap (“leaf”). Related to 世 (OC *hljebs, “world”).
This is part of the word family *lVp meaning “flat”, represented by the phonetic component 枼 (OC *leb). Compare also 茶 (OC *rlaː, “tea < *leaf”).

Han compound

葉飛

叶飞


蟲

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): Triplication of 虫 (“snake; insect”).
Note that 虫 is also a traditional character on its own.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *djuŋ (“insect; bug”) (STEDT).

inh

虫
䖝
𧈰
⿱䖝⿰䖝䖝
蚛


袖

/ɕi̯ɤʊ̯ɻʷ⁵¹/

/ɕi̯ɤʊ̯ɻʷ⁵¹/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ljɯwɢs): semantic 衣 (“clothing”) + phonetic 由 (OC *lɯw).
Part of a word family referring to any cover that one slips over something; cognate with 冑 (OC *l'ɯwɢs, “helmet”) (Schuessler, 2007). Schuessler (2007) reconstructs the word with a *s- suffix, which could play an iterative role, as sleeves come in pairs.


譚

譚詠麟

谭咏麟


花

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (花):
* → Japanese: 花(か) (ka)
* → Korean: 화(花) (hwa)
* → Vietnamese: hoa (花)

→ Ai-Cham: hwa¹

→ Zhuang: va

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hʷraː): semantic 艹 (“grass; plant”) + phonetic 化 (OC *hŋʷraːls). Originally 𠌶 or 華 before the Han dynasty.
Unclear. According to Schuessler (2007), either from:
* Proto-Sino-Tibetan *baːr (“bloom, flower”) and thus an example of possible *b ~ *w variation, with final -r moved to medial position. If so, cognate with 葩 (OC *pʰraː); outside Sinitic, compare Burmese ပန်း (pan:), Lepcha ᰓᰫᰲ (búr), Mizo páar. Sagart (2021) also connects it to 葩 (OC *pʰˤra), modifying Baxter and Sagart's (2014) reconstruction to *Cə-pʰˤra and proposing the sound changes *Cə-pʰ- > *Cə-ɸ- > *ɸ- > xw-.
* Or from Austroasiatic; compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *pkaaw ~ *pkaʔ (“flower, blossom”).
華 (OC *ɡʷraː, “to flower”) is a derivative.


談

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'aːm): semantic 言 (“speech”) + phonetic 炎 (OC *ɦlam).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-tam ~ g-dam.


茶

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (茶):
* → Japanese: 茶(ちゃ) (cha) (see there for further descendants)
* → Okinawan: 茶(ちゃー) (chā)
* → Korean: 차(茶) (cha)
* → Vietnamese: trà (茶)

desc

→ Cantonese: 嗲 (de¹, “to chat”) (via Teochew)

→? Cebuano: tsa (via Cantonese)

→ Classical Persian: چَا (čā) (via Mandarin), چَای (čāy) (via Mandarin, with Persian suffix -y(i) added) (see there for further descendants)

→ Drung: cha

→ Dutch: thee (via Hokkien) (see there for further descendants)

→ English: cha, char (via Cantonese)

→ Hlai: dhe (via Hainanese)

→ Khmer: តែ (tae)

→ Malay: ca (via Cantonese)

desctree

→ Malay: teh (via Hokkien)
Indonesian: teh

desc

→ Mongolian: цай (caj), ᠴᠠᠢ (čai) (via Mandarin)

desctree

→ Portuguese: chá (via Cantonese)
→ Apalaí: xa
→ Gujarati: ચા (cā)
→ Hunsrik: Scha
→ Nheengatu: xaa
→ Spanish: cha / chá (Philippine Spanish)
→? Tagalog: tsa, sa — obsolete, cha, saa, tsaa, chaa
→? Cebuano: tsa
→ Tetum: xá

→ Punjabi: (via Mandarin)

Gurmukhi script: ਚਾਹ (cāh)

Shahmukhi script: چاہ (cāh)

→ Spanish: té (via Hokkien)
→ Asturian: té
→ Basque: te
→ Catalan: te
→ Galician: té
→ Navajo: dééh
→ Occitan: tè

→ Proto-Tai: *ɟaːᴬ

Bouyei: xaz

Lao: ຊາ (sā)

Thai: ชา (chaa)

Zhuang: caz

→? Tagalog: tsa (via Cantonese)

→ Tibetan: ཇ (ja)

→ Vietnamese: chè (茶, 𦷨)

→ Yonaguni: さー

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *rlaː): semantic 艹 + phonetic 余 (OC *la).
茶, then slightly modified into a more conservative 茶, originates as a graphical modification of archaic 荼 (*rlaː, “bitter plant”), used for “tea” in classical sources. The modern version is unrelated to the bottom component of 條.
As tea may have originated from Sichuan, where the native Yi people speak Loloish languages, Sagart (1999) suggests that the Old Chinese item was possibly originally borrowed from Proto-Loloish *la¹ (“tea”), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-la (“leaf; tea”). Schuessler (2007) traces its ultimate origin to Proto-Austroasiatic *slaʔ (“leaf”) (in Sidwell's 2024 reconstruction).
Alternatively, Qiu (1988) suggests that it might be a semantic extension of 荼 (*rlaː, “bitter plant”).

茶滷

tea left out overnight, stain on teaware


諸

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjaː, *tja): semantic 言 + phonetic 者 (OC *tjaːʔ).
諸 (*ta, "many, all") is considered a dependent (non-adjunctive) pronoun, gradually replacing 多 (*tlai, “many, all”). The two may be cognate, and it may be conceivable that 諸 had branched off from 多 in the sense "all" as the pre-nominal proclitic with the loss of the final *-i in 多.
Probably also cognate with 都 (dū, “all”).


虎

Pictogram (象形). 虍 represents the tiger's head. The torso has disappeared and the legs and the tail have transformed into 人 in the small seal script and later 儿 in the clerical script.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-la (“tiger”), from Proto-Austroasiatic *kla(ː)ʔ (“tiger”). Cognate with 菟 (OC *daː) in 於菟 (OC *qa daː, “tiger”). Compare Vietnamese khái ("tiger").
Hill (2019) compares it to Tibetan སྟག (stag, “tiger”); however, Zheng Zining deems that comparison "probably spurious".

乕
𢁺
𠂰
𧆞
𮓙
𮓜
𠪳
𢋪
𪋕
𧇂
虝
𪊖
俿


貂

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *teːw): semantic 豸 + phonetic 召 (OC *dews, *djews)


謝

→ English: Hsieh, Xie, Tse, Chia, Seah

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ljaːɡs): semantic 言 (“word; speech”) + phonetic 射 (OC *ɢljaːɡs, *laːɡs, *ɢljaːɡ, *laːɡ).

Han compound

Frank Hsieh (ROC (Taiwan) Representative to Japan)

謝長廷

谢长廷

Jiùshí Wáng Xiè táng qián yàn, fēi rù xúncháng bǎixìng jiā.

舊時王謝堂前燕，飛入尋常百姓家。

旧时王谢堂前燕，飞入寻常百姓家。


譯

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (譯):
* → Japanese: 訳(やく) (yaku)
* → Korean: 역(譯) (yeok)
* → Vietnamese: dịch (譯)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *laːɡ): semantic 言 (“say”) + phonetic 睪 (OC *neb, *laːɡ, *kuː).
Same word as 繹 (OC *laːɡ, “to unravel”) (Schuessler, 2007). See there for more.


規

Traditionally an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 夫 (“husband”) + 見 (“see”).
Smith (2011) proposes that the left component is an abbreviation of the phonetic component 癸 (OC *kʷilʔ). Compare the Shizhoupian script form of 癸.
It's possible 規 originally referred to a compass used for drawing circles given its early usage. The right half 夫 may have depicted such a compass, as evidenced by variants where
it is written with a 又 (“hand”) grabbing it.

规
䂓
槼
𩑬
𩒙
𩓠
𧠹
规
歸
幾
规
规


豐

Ideogram (指事) – The top component is 𠁳, a pot full of plants 丰 (abundance, plenty). The bottom component is 豆, which is another pot.
Unrelated to 豊, in which two strings of jade pieces 玨 are present. The top component of 豐 is unrelated to 山.

豐子愷

丰子恺


證

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjɯŋs): semantic 言 + phonetic 登 (OC *tɯːŋ).
Cognate with 徵 (OC *tɯŋ, “to summon; to testify”).
Related to Khmer ទៀង (tiəng, “true; exact”), Khmer ផ្ទៀង (phtiəng, “to correct; to verify”), but they may be Chinese loans. Perhaps related to 貞 (OC *teŋ, “to test; to verify”) and 真 (OC *ʔljin, “true”) (Schuessler, 2007).

cog

证
証
䥌
䥭
𨨾
𨧭
𨭻
𧁅
𨪔
𨨼


訓

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qʰuns): semantic 訁 (“speech”) + phonetic 川 (OC *kʰjon).
Perhaps from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-kul (“to instruct, explain, admonish”). Compare Tibetan སྐུལ་བ (skul ba, “to exhort”).

訓誨

chiefly of superiors to subordinates, or old to young


賀

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡaːls): phonetic 加 (OC *kraːl) + semantic 貝 (“shellfish money”).

Han compound

He Zhizhang / He Chih-chang (a Chinese poet, one of the Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup)

賀知章

贺知章


許

desc

→ English: Hsu, Hsü, Hui, Koh, Sheu, Syu, Xu

→ Tagalog: Co, Ko (via Hokkien)

Originally written as 鄦 (OC *hmaʔ), 𱢬 (among others) in pre-Qin texts. By the Han dynasty, it was homophonic with and written as 許, originally meaning “to allow; to promise”, due to voiceless nasals losing nasality, turning into x- (Zhang, 2022b).

許慎

许慎


生

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 屮 (“bud”) + 一 (“ground”) – sprouting from the ground. A conservative version is 𤯓, which is unrelated to 㞷 (匩 > 匡) and 𡴀 > 丰.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-riŋ ~ s-r(j)aŋ (“to live; to be alive; to give birth; raw; green”). Cognate with Burmese ရှင် (hrang, “to live; alive”), Mizo hring (“to bear; to bring forth; to give birth to; green”).
Schuessler (2007) proposes that Proto-Sino-Tibetan *sriŋ is derived from the root *sri (“to exist”) (whence possibly Chinese 體 (OC *r̥ʰiːʔ, “body; shape; form”)) + *-ŋ (terminative suffix).
Both level tone and falling tone readings are found in Middle Chinese, but the latter has since been lost and is merged into the level-tone reading in modern dialects.
Related to 青 (OC *sʰleːŋ, “blue-green”), 蒼 (OC *sʰaːŋ, *sʰaːŋʔ, “dark blue; deep green”).
Derivatives: 性 (OC *sleŋs, “nature; character; personality; quality”), 姓 (OC *sleŋs, “family name”).
Pronunciation in Early Middle Chinese is *sraeng, but it comes from an earlier *srjaeng, as seen in Wang Renxu's edition of the Qieyun.

och-l

GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)


赴

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰoɡs): semantic 走 (“running”) + phonetic 卜 (OC *poːɡ).


表

/pi̯aʊ̯ɻʷ²¹⁴/

/pi̯aʊ̯ɻʷ²¹⁴/

Originally 𧘝, an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 衣 (“garment; clothing”) + 毛 (“hair; feather”) — outer garment.
Officially adopted as the simplified form of 錶 (etymology 2) in the Chinese Character Simplification Scheme (《漢字簡化方案》) in 1956.


豔

Originally 豓. Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *lams): semantic 豐 (“abundant, great”) + phonetic 盇 () (corrupted to 盍).
Schuessler (2007) minimally reconstructs, though with uncertainty, *r-jams > *jams, compares it to Thai เรี่ยม (riamᴮ²), and proposes it was from Tai.


豎

Possibly phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djoʔ): semantic 臤 + phonetic 豆 (OC *doːs).

Han compound

竖
竪
𠐊
㒘
䜿
䝂
𥪛


賜

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sleːɡs): semantic 貝 (“shell, money”) + phonetic 易 (OC *leːɡs, *leɡ).
From *s- (extrovert/causative) + 易 (OC *leɡ, “to change”) + *-s (Schuessler, 2007).


赫

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qʰraːɡ): Duplication of 赤 (“red”), with 赤 (OC *kʰljaɡ) acting as the phonetic component.
Related to 赫 (OC *qʰraːɡ, “bright red”) and possibly 奭 (OC *hjaɡ, “majestic; red”).


記

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (記):
* → Japanese: 記(き) (ki)
* → Korean: 기(記) (gi)
* → Vietnamese: kí (記)

→ Vietnamese: ghi

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kɯs): semantic 言 (“speech; words”) + phonetic 己 (OC *kɯʔ).

緬懷

to cherish the memory of, especially the deceased


跋

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *boːd): semantic 足 (“foot”) + phonetic 犮 (OC *boːd).
Cognate with 茇 (OC *poːd, “roots of grass”) (Schuessler, 2007).


赦

In the bronze script, it was written as 𢼜, a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hljaɡs): phonetic 亦 (OC *laːɡ) + semantic 攴 (“hand holding a stick”). In later scripts, the phonetic component was replaced with 赤 (OC *kʰljaɡ).
Exoactive (causative) of 釋 (OC *hljaɡ, “to unloose; to release”) (Schuessler, 2007). Also related to 舍 (OC *hljaːʔ, “to let off”) (Wang, 1982), of which there exists a derived reading 舍 (OC *hljaːs, “to let off; to liberate”) that formed a variant relationship with 赦 (OC *hljaɡs), despite not having the same pronunciation in Old Chinese (*-aːs vs *-ags).


覺

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kruːɡs, *kruːɡ): abbreviated phonetic 學 (OC *ɡruːɡ) + semantic 見 (“see”) (the phonetic component xué is written in a contracted form, 𦥯).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kruk (“rouse; awaken; disturb”). Cognate with Old Chinese 學 (*ɡruːɡ, “to learn; to study”), 攪 (*kruːʔ, “to disturb”), Tibetan དཀྲོག (dkrog, “to agitate; to rouse”).

cog

觉
覚
斍
𡕚
覐
𧠔
𧠭
𧠷


贛

赣
贑/𫎬
𥫔
灨
⿱夂贡
赣
贑/𫎬


觀

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *koːn, *koːns): phonetic 雚 (OC *koːns) + semantic 見 (“see”).
“To watch; to observe” (Pronunciation 1) > “watchtower; platform; temple” (Pronunciation 2).
Schuessler (2007) connects it with 侯 (OC *ɡoː, “target”) and 候 (OC *ɡoːs, “to watch; to be on the lookout for; to wait”).


趙

→ English: Chao, Zhao, Chiu

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'ewʔ): semantic 走 + phonetic 肖 (OC *slew, *slews).

Han compound

趙紫陽

赵紫阳

Zhao Benshan (Chinese skit and sitcom actor, comedian, television director)

趙本山

赵本山

a surname, listed first in the Baijiaxing. It is the family name of the Song emperors


講

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (講):
* → Japanese: 講(こう) (kō)
* → Korean: 강(講) (gang)
* → Vietnamese: giảng (講)

→ Bouyei: gaangc

→ Zhuang: gangj

/t͡ɕi̯ɑŋ²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕi̯ɑŋ²¹⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kroːŋʔ): semantic 言 (“say”) + phonetic 冓 (OC *koː, *koːs).


賤

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zlens): semantic 貝 + phonetic 戔 (OC *zlaːn).


計

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 言 (“say”) + 十 (“all”).

Ji Liuqi (Ming and Qing dynasty historian who authored the histories 明季北略 and 明季南略)

計六奇

计六奇


買

→ Proto-Hmong-Mien: *mɛjX (“to buy”)

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 网 (“net”) + 貝 (“money cowrie”). The original version is 𧵽.
Baxter and Sagart (2014) consider it to be a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): abbreviated phonetic 羅 (*rˤaj) + semantic 貝 (“money cowrie”).
Possibly from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g/m/s-laj ~ *r/s-lej ~ *b-rej (“to buy; to barter”); compare Proto-Karen *breᴬ (“to buy”), Proto-Bodo-Garo *prai¹ (“to buy”), Tibetan རྗེ (rje, “to exchange; to barter”) (Schuessler, 2007; Sagart, 1999, 2011). Benedict (1967, 1972) considers this allofam to be a result of borrowing from Austro-Tai *(m)baḷi several times into Sino-Tibetan languages.
Alternatively, Haudricourt and Strecker (1991) consider 買 and 賣 to be borrowed from Hmong-Mien, which may have a family of verbs related to possession: *mɛjX (“to buy”, corresponding to 買), *mɛjH (“to buy”, corresponding to 賣), *ʔ-mɛj (“to grasp”), *n-mɛj (“to have”) (Ratliff, 2010). However, Sagart (1995) argues that the direction of borrowing is more likely to be from Chinese to Hmong-Mien because Hmong-Mien does not seem to have a suffix that would give rise to the tone in the word for “to buy”. In addition to these two ways of relating the Chinese word to Hmong-Mien, Ratliff (2010) proposes common inheritance as a third option and maintains that more evidence is needed to determine which of the three explanations are correct.
The surname only appears among Taiwanese aboriginals and Hui people in Mainland China. The surname is from the Siraya name Takalomay in Taiwan or possibly from the name 買買提／买买提 (Mǎimǎití, “Mehmet”) for Hui people.


賈

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kraːʔ, *kraːs, *klaːʔ): phonetic 襾 (OC *qraːs) + semantic 貝 (“shellfish”).

Han compound

Jia Pingwa (one of China's most popular authors)

賈平凹

贾平凹


賞

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hjaŋʔ): phonetic 尚 (OC *djaŋ, *djaŋs) + semantic 貝 (“cowry”).


貨

Characters in the same phonetic series (化) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hŋʷaːls): phonetic 化 (OC *hŋʷraːls) + semantic 貝 (“shell, money”) – valuable goods.
Related to 訛 (OC *ŋʷaːl, “to change”), 化 (OC *hŋʷraːls, “to transform”) (Schuessler, 2007).


資

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsli): phonetic 次 (OC *sn̥ʰis) + semantic 貝 (“shell-money”) – “property, resource”.


貝

Characters in the same phonetic series (貝) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – cowrie used as currency in ancient China. Unrelated to the original version of 則. See also the top component of 得. Unrelated to 目.
Cowries were used as money in ancient China (shell money).
Possibly from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *bwap (“snail”); cognate with Jingpho pawp, lapawp (“snail”), Chepang बोप् (bop, “snail”) (STEDT; Starostin; Schuessler, 2007).
Alternatively, Guo (1945) proposes that it is an ancient loanword from languages of the south (which call it bia). Since the species of sea snail used as decoration and currency—Monetaria moneta (money cowry)—is not native to the eastern seashores of China, he proposes that cowries used by the ancient Chinese dynasties in Central China must have come from the southeastern shores of China and areas further south. Compare Malay bia (“cowry”), Thai เบี้ย (bîia, “cowry shell; money”), Proto-Mon-Khmer *ɓa(a)j (“bean, small weight or coin”) > Khasi sbâi (“cowry; shell; money”), Khmer ពៃ (pɨy, “obsolete small coin”) (Schuessler, 2007). Note also Burmese ပဲ (pai:, “bean”).

cog

Ieoh Ming Pei (Chinese-American architect)

貝聿銘

贝聿铭


豹

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (豹):
* → Japanese: 豹(ひょう) (hyō)
* → Vietnamese: báo (豹)

→ Proto-Vietic: *pɛːw

Vietnamese: beo

→ Zhuang: beuq

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *preːwɢs): semantic 豸 (“beast; creature”) + phonetic 勺 (OC *pljewɢ, *bljewɢ). Pictogram (象形) in the oracle bone script.
Exopassive derivative of 駁 (OC *praːwɢ, “piebald (horse)”), literally "the spotted one"; ultimately from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *bruk (“piebald; speckled”).


解

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 角 (“horn”) + 刀 (“knife”) + 牛 (“cow”) – a knife separates a horn from a cow, i.e. “cut up (an ox)”.
Three pronunciations are cognate. "To loosen; to disengage" > "idle, lazy, remiss". Cognate with 懈 (OC *kreːs, “lazy, remiss”) and possibly 邂逅 (OC *ɡreːs ɡoːs, “carefree and happy”).
? Area stem: *C-re. Compare Burmese ဖြေ (hpre, “to untie; to answer; to ease; to absolve”), အဖြေ (a.hpre, “answer, solution; response; explication”); Khmer រាយ (riəy, “to scatter, to be divided up, to separate”), ស្រាយ (sraay, “to untie, to undo, to explain, to solve”).


落

→ Ai-Cham: lau⁵

→ Thai: โละ (ló) (via Teochew loh⁸)

→ Vietnamese: lạc

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡ·raːɡ): semantic 艹 + phonetic 洛 (OC *ɡ·raːɡ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(k/g)la-k/y/t (“to fall”) (STEDT, Schuessler, 2007):
:within Sinitic, cognate to 露 (OC *ɡ·raːɡs) "dew", 下 (OC *ɡraːʔ, *ɡraːs, “down, below, to descend, to fall down”) , 陊 (OC *l'aːlʔ, *l'alʔ) "to collapse" and 阤 (OC *l'alʔ, *hljalʔ) "hillside, slope";
:outsides Sinitic, cognate to Mizo tla ~ tlâk (“to fall”) and thla ~ thlâk (“to drop”), Burmese ကျ (kya., “to fall”) and ချ (hkya., “to drop”).
Schuessler attributes OC *r-, instead of expected **l-, to possible Austroasiatic influence: compare Khmer [script needed] (gra'ka, “be low, debased”) < [script needed] (-ra'ka, “to fall, below, cover from above”). However, Matisoff (2003) identifies several ST etyma which display TB *(C‑)l- vs. OC *(C‑)r‑ correspondence (e.g. *l(j)a(k/ŋ) (“good, beautiful”) → 良 (OC *raŋ), *g/m-liŋ (“neck”) → 領 (OC *reŋʔ), etc.) and TB *(C‑)r- vs. OC *(C‑)l‑ (e.g. *g-rjum (“salt”) → 鹽 (OC *ɡ·lam)); so irregularities in correspondence do not necessarily indicate foreign influences.
Contemporary southern usage possibly reinforced by a Kra-Dai term. The term has been associated with Zhuang loengx (“to fall”).
Zhengzhang suggested that Pronunciation 2 was a result of loss of final consonant of the retained Old Chinese Pronunciation 1.

cog

Only after doing it for a while do you realize how difficult it is.

zou⁶ lok⁶ sin¹ zi¹ jyun⁴ loi⁴ gam³ naan⁴.

做落先知原來咁難。

做落先知原来咁难。

肥到著唔落條褲

肥到著唔落条裤


請

/t͡ɕʰiaŋ²¹³/

/t͡sʰi̯aŋ³¹/

/t͡sʰiɪŋ⁵⁵⁴/

/t͡ɕʰiaŋ²¹³/

/t͡sʰi̯aŋ³¹/

/t͡sʰiɪŋ⁵⁵⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰleŋʔ, *zleŋs, *zleŋ): semantic 言 (“say”) + phonetic 青 (OC *sʰleːŋ).


貢

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *koːŋs): phonetic 工 (OC *koːŋ) + semantic 貝. However, the phonetic component indicates the concept of working and achievement (功), hence putting efforts to make any kind of contribute and/or reach an achievement.


賁

贲
贲
贲
贲
贲
贲
贲
贲
贲


蹇

/t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵/

/t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kranʔ, *kanʔ): abbreviated phonetic 寒 (OC *ɡaːn) + semantic 足 (“foot”).

Han compound

Jian Xianfo (former Electric Industry vice-minister of China)

蹇先佛


趣

/t͡ɕʰyə̯ɻ⁵¹/

/t͡ɕʰyə̯ɻ⁵¹/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰloːʔ, *sʰlos): semantic 走 (“walk”) + phonetic 取 (OC *sʰloːʔ, *sʰloʔ) – to hasten (walking) towards an object of interest.


費

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *prɯds, *pʰɯds, *bɯds): phonetic 弗 (OC *pɯd) + semantic 貝 (“cowry”).

Han compound

Fei Xiaotong (Chinese anthropologist and sociologist)

費孝通

费孝通


賴

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *raːds): phonetic 剌 (OC *raːd) + semantic 貝 (“cowry”) – to profit.

Han compound

赖
頼
顂
𩓃
𧡽
赖
攋
落
赖

賴清德

赖清德


要

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (要):
* → Japanese: 要(よう) (yō)
* → Korean: 요(要) (yo)
* → Vietnamese: yêu (要)

Characters in the same phonetic series (要) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形): a man 大 then drawn as a woman (女) with two hands pointing to his/her midsection. On top of the character there was huge eye 目, then stylized as a horn 角. The hands gradually shifted upwards; hence, a nearly-original version of the character is 𡢗. All the upper part was eventually stylized as 覀. Unrelated to 栗 but partly related to 票.
Original meaning was “waist” (now 腰 (OC *qew)).


論

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ruːn, *ruːns, *run): semantic 言 (“say”) + phonetic 侖 (OC *run).
Compare Mizo râwn (“to ask advice, to consult, to ask”) [high-tone], Mizo râwn (“to suggest, to advise, to recommend”) [low-tone].


豪

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡaːw): abbreviated phonetic 高 (OC *kaːw) + semantic 豕 (“pig, boar”).


被

Sino-Xenic (被):
* → Vietnamese: bị (被)

desc

→ Vietnamese: phải (“must; correct; right side”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *bralʔ, *brals): semantic 衣 (“clothing”) + phonetic 皮 (OC *bral).
Cognate with 披 (OC *pʰral, *pʰralʔ). The meaning of passive marker is an extension of "to wear; to be covered by something".


親

Bronze script: phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰin, *sʰins): phonetic 辛 (OC *siŋ) + semantic 見 (“see”).
Seal script: phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰin, *sʰins): phonetic 𣓀 () + semantic 見 (“see”). The left part (a chisel with a tree at the bottom to indicate "hazelnut branch" used as a whip) was then stylized as 亲, which originally is a variant of 辛, the chisel.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *dziŋ (“relatives, ancestors”) (STEDT). Cognate with Burmese စဉ် (cany, “to line up, arrange”).

cog

亲
媇
𧡘
𡩁
*寴
𡪔
𢾉
𧠍
𧠸
𧡿
亲
媇
𧡘
𡩁
*寴
𡪔
𢾉
𧠍
𧠸
𧡿
亲


辜

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

Han compound

辜振甫


豚

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 肉 (“meat”) + 豕 (“pig”).
Probably related to 彖 (OC *l̥ʰoːns, “running pig”) and 貒 (OC *tʰoːn, “hog badger”) (Schuessler, 2007).
Outside of Chinese, it is probably related to Proto-Mien *duŋᴮ (“pig”) (Sagart, 1999; Schuessler, 2007; Ratliff, 2010).
Vovin speculates a link to Common Turkic *toŋuz (“pig”) and Middle Korean 돝 (twòth, “pig”) (Vovin, 2011).


言

Characters in the same phonetic series (言) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogram (指事): 言 was created by adding a horizontal stroke to the top of the ancient version of 舌 to indicate movement of the tongue. This indicates speech, where 舌 is a mouth (口) with a tongue sticking out; hence 舌 doesn't indicate the speech, but the tongue as an organ of the body. In the modern version, another horizontal stroke (then stylized as a point) was added on top and the vertical body of the tongue disappeared.
See also 音.
Shuowen erroneously analyzes the glyph as a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): phonetic 䇂 () + semantic 口 (“mouth”).
According to Schuessler (2007: 74) this word is derived from 語 (OC *ŋaʔ, “to speak”) + -n nominal suffix.


躍

/t͡sʰiɔk̚²⁴/

/t͡sʰiɔk̚²⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *lewɢ): semantic 足 (“foot”) + phonetic 翟 (OC *r'aːwɢ, *l'eːwɢ).


輿

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *la, *las): phonetic 舁 (OC *la) + semantic 車 (“carriage”).


貴

Simplified from 䝿 (臾 → 𠀐). Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kluds): phonetic 臾 (OC *ɡruds, *lo) + semantic 貝 (“money cowrie”).
From Sino-Tibetan; compare Tibetan གུས (gus, “respect, reverence, devotion”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT).


越

→ Vietnamese: vượt (“to pass over”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷaːd, *ɢʷad): semantic 走 (“to walk or run”) + phonetic 戉 (OC *ɢʷad) — to go over; to cross.
; “to go over; to surpass; to overstep; to turn”
: Related to 𨒋 (“to go over”), 䟠 (“to go beyond; to transgress”) (Wang, 1982) and perhaps 于 (OC *ɢʷa, “to go”) (Schuessler, 2007).
; “modal particle”
; “Yue; Viet; State of Yue”
: This is a general name for numerous indigenous tribes in ancient southern China, which are collectively called Baiyue. The ancient State of Yue during the Zhou dynasty of China was initially written as 戉 (OC *ɢʷad, “large battle-axe”) — alternatively written as 𫑛 — and it is commonly believed the name Yue originates from this instrument, which was widely found in neolithic cultures of southeastern China and served as a symbol of authority and royalty.
: See 戉 (OC *ɢʷad) for more on the etymology.


角

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (角):
* → Japanese: 角(かく) (kaku)
* → Korean: 각(角) (gak)
* → Vietnamese: giác (角)

→ Khmer: កាក់ (kak)
→ English: kak

→ Thai: กั๊ก (gák)

→ Vietnamese: góc

/t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴/

Characters in the same phonetic series (角) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – a horn. A conservative version is 𧢲. Similar but unrelated to 甬, 用, and the bottom part of 備.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *krəw (“horn; angle; corner”) (STEDT). Cognate with Tibetan རྭ (rwa, “horn”), Garo grong (“horn”), Jingpho nrung (“horn”), Chepang रोङः (roŋʔ, “horn”), 觡 (OC *kraːɡ, “antler”). The Tibeto-Burman *-ŋ final variant is reflected in 觥 (OC *kʷraːŋ, “drinking vessel made from animal horn”) (Schuessler, 2007). Possibly also related to 鹿 (OC *b·roːɡ, “deer”) (Sagart, 1999).
A derivative is 餃 (“stuffed dumpling”), named for its horn-like shape (Norman, 1988).
It is probably unrelated with Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂nós (“horn”) ( < *ḱerh₂- (“horn”)) and Proto-Semitic *ḳarn- (“horn”) despite the phonological and semantic resemblance between the three.


迂

Schussler (2007) relates it to 匡 (OC *kʰʷaŋ), 腕 (OC *qoːns), 冤 (OC *qon), & 枉 (OC *qʷaŋʔ). Allofams are possibly 弧 (OC *ɡʷlaː), 委 (OC *qrol, *qrolʔ), and 夭 (OC *qoːwʔ, *qrow, *qrowʔ), which Coblin (1986) (apud Schuessler, 2007) considers as cognate to Tibetan ཡོ་བ (yo ba, “oblique, aslant”), གཡོ་བ (g.yo ba, “tilt”), གཡོས (g.yos); however, see 夭 (yāo). Ratliff (2010) links it with Proto-Hmong-Mien *qʷuw (“far”).


軒

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qʰan): semantic 車 (“carriage”) + phonetic 干 (OC *kaːn)


途

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'aː): semantic 辶 + phonetic 余 (OC *la).


邛

/t͡ɕʰi̯ʊŋ³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ʊŋ³⁵/


邲

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *priɡs, *bliɡ, *briɡ): phonetic 必 (OC *pliɡ) + semantic 邑 (“city; town”)


軋

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qriːd): semantic 車 (“cart”) + phonetic 乙 (OC *qriɡ)

Han compound

轧
轧
轧
轧
轧
裹
輾
𩛩


輩

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *puːls): semantic 車 + phonetic 非 (OC *pɯl).


迎

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋaŋ, *ŋraŋs): semantic 辶 + phonetic 卬 (OC *ŋaːŋ, *ŋaŋʔ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ŋra-k/ŋ (“to meet; to encounter”). Cognate with Burmese ငြင်း (ngrang:, “to refuse to obey; to argue”). Within Chinese, it is related to:
* 禦 (OC *ŋaʔ, *ŋas, “to defend”)
* 迕 (OC *ŋaːs, “to meet; to go against”)
* 迓 (OC *ŋraːs, “to receive; to defend”)
* 溯 (OC *sŋaːɡs, “to go upstream”)
* 逆 (OC *ŋraɡ, “to greet; to go against; to resist”)


邱

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯⁵⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰʷɯ): phonetic 丘 (OC *kʰʷɯ) + semantic 邑 (“city; town”)
This character originated from the naming taboo of Confucius, 孔丘 (Kǒng Qiū).


邵

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djews): phonetic 召 (OC *dews, *djews) + semantic 阝.

Han compound

邵逸夫


速

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sloːɡ): semantic 辵 + phonetic 束 (OC *hljoɡ).
Compare Proto-Tibeto-Burman *m-sow (“to arise; to awake; to awaken”) (STEDT). Related to 促 (OC *sʰoɡ, “to urge”) (Schuessler, 2007).

欲速則不達

yù sù zé bù dá

欲速则不达

yù sù zé bù dá


質

质
貭
筫
𫎘
𧸲
质
貭
筫
𫎘
𧸲
质
枳


郳

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋeː): phonetic 兒 (OC *ŋeː, *ŋje) + semantic 邑 (“city”).


郹

郥
鄓
𨜯
⿰⿱且八阝
⿰𰥍阝


郤

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰraɡ): phonetic 𧮫 () + semantic 邑 (“city”).


郝

→ English: Hao

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qʰljaɡ, *kʰljaɡ, *hljaɡ): phonetic 赤 (OC *kʰljaɡ) + semantic 邑 (“city, town”)

Han compound

郝柏村


郪

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰiːl, *sʰil): phonetic 妻 (OC *sʰiːl, *sʰiːls) + semantic 邑 (“city”).


邾

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *to): phonetic 朱 (OC *tjo) + semantic 邑 (“area; district”).


衣

Characters in the same phonetic series (衣) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) Outline of the chest, upper clothing. Compare to the upper part of 文.
This pictogram 衣 can be split into two parts and hold another component (e.g., 裹, 衮, 褱, 襄, and 𧝑 as used in 㞡 > 展). See also the top component of 雜.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *w(y)a-t ~ wit (“to wear; to clothe”).
Pronunciation 2 ("to wear") is the exoactive form of pronunciation 1 ("garment; clothes").


遇

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋos): semantic 辶 + phonetic 禺 (OC *ŋo, *ŋos).
Possibly cognate with 遘 (OC *koːs, *koːs, “to meet”)，覯 (OC *koːs, “to come across”).


鄖

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢun): phonetic 員 (OC *ɢon, *ɢun) + semantic 阝 (“area”).


鄜

Simplified from 𨞻 (麃 → 鹿), a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰlo, *roːɡ): phonetic 麃 (OC *braːw, *pʰrawʔ) + semantic 邑 (“city”).


邢

Xing Bing (Song dynasty scholar who wrote commentaries on a number of Confucian classics)

邢昺


輸

→ Vietnamese: thua (“to lose”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hljo, *hljos): semantic 車 + phonetic 俞 (OC *l̥ʰus, *lo).

Han compound

输
⿱亼𨊸
⿰車𬾮*
输


述

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɦljud): semantic 辵 (“walk”) + phonetic 朮 (OC *l'ud, *ɦljud).


邯

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡaːm, *ɡaːm): phonetic 甘 (OC *kaːm) + semantic 阝 (“city”).


誰

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djul): semantic 言 (“speak”) + phonetic 隹 (OC *tjul).
From *du + *-i (“suffix in independent pronouns”); cognate with 疇 (OC *du, “who”), 孰 (OC *djɯwɢ, “which one; who”) (Schuessler, 2007). In other Sino-Tibetan languages, compare Mizo tû (“who; which”), Chepang दोह् (“what”), Proto-Kuki-Chin *tuu (“who; which (relativizer)”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT).

cog

谁
谁
倽
上
仩
谁
𪝊
𫢗
谁
谁
孰:chiâ
咜:chôa


遽

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡas): semantic 辵 + phonetic 豦 (OC *kas, *ɡa).


鄢

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qran, *qanʔ, *qans): phonetic 焉 (OC *qran, *ɢan, *qan) + semantic 阝 (“city”).


鄴

Han char

鄴 (Kangxi radical 163, 邑+13, 16 strokes, cangjie input 廿木弓中 (TDNL), four-corner 3792₇, composition ⿰業阝)


鄆

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢuns): phonetic 軍 (OC *kun) + semantic 邑 (“place”).


郡

Perhaps related to Tibetan ཁུལ (khul, “district; province”) (Gong, 1995).


鄔

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qaː, *qaːʔ, *qas): phonetic 烏 (OC *qaː) + semantic 邑 (“city; town”).


辣

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *raːd): semantic 辛 + phonetic 束. The latter is an abbreviation of 剌 (OC *raːd).
Possibly cognate with 厲 (OC *m·rads), 烈 (OC *red).


鄂

→ English: E, O

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋaːɡ): phonetic 咢 (OC *ŋaːɡ) + semantic 阝 (“area”).


鄺

(Mandarin) English: Kuang

(Cantonese) English: Kwong, Fong

(Hokkien) Tagalog: Kong

zh:海峽兩岸漢語發音差異列表


鄒

→ English: Tsou, Zou

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsru): phonetic 芻 (OC *sʰro) + semantic 邑 (“city; state”)

Han compound

Olivia Chow (Canadian politician born in Hong Kong)

鄒至蕙

邹至蕙


酆

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰuŋ): phonetic 豐 (OC *pʰuŋ) + semantic 阝.


鄶

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


酅

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡʷeː): phonetic 巂 () + semantic 邑 (“city”).


郁

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qʷɯ): phonetic 有 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ) + semantic 邑.

Han compound

郁達夫

郁达夫


郇

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡʷreːn, *sqʰʷin): phonetic 旬 (OC *sɢʷin) + semantic 邑 (“state; city”).


谷

Proto-Sino-Tibetan language
Tibetan language

Characters in the same phonetic series (谷) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) — valley (口) in between two mountain walls represented by near-parallel lines. The original version is 𠔌. See also 㕣.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kl(j)u(ŋ/k) (“river; gorge”). Cognate with Tibetan ལྗོངས (ljongs), Tibetan ཀླུང (klung) and Tibetan ལུང་པ (lung pa).

inh-lite

谷愛凌

谷爱凌


鄧

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (鄧):
* → Vietnamese: Đặng (鄧)

→ English: Deng, Teng, Tang

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *dɯːŋs): phonetic 登 (OC *tɯːŋ) + semantic 阝 (“city”).

Han compound

鄧麗君

邓丽君

鄧小平

邓小平

Listen to Old Deng (Deng Xiaoping) by day, listen to Little Teng (Teresa Teng) by night

Báitiān tīng Lǎo Dèng, wǎnshang tīng Xiǎo Dèng

白天聽老鄧，晚上聽小鄧

白天听老邓，晚上听小邓


釗

/t͡sʰiːu̯⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰiːu̯⁵⁵/


邦

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *proːŋ): phonetic 丰 (OC *pʰoŋ) + semantic 阝.
Possibly the same etymon as 封 (OC *poŋ, *poŋs) (Wang, 1982, Schuessler, 2007). Compare also Burmese ပြည် (prany, “country”) (Luce, 1981).


釧

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (釧):
* → Japanese: 釧(せん) (sen)
* → Korean: 천(釧) (cheon)
* → Vietnamese: xuyến (釧)

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯än⁵¹/

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯än⁵¹/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰjons): semantic 金 + phonetic 川 (OC *kʰjon).


鄭

desc

→ English: Cheng, Zheng, Tseng, Tay, Teh, Tee, Tey

→ Tagalog: Ty, Tee (via Hokkien)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *deŋs): phonetic 奠 (OC *diːŋs) + semantic 邑.

Han compound

Zheng Chenggong (Ming loyalist who resisted the Qing conquest of China in the 17th century)

鄭成功

郑成功

Zheng Xie (Qing-era Chinese official, painter and calligrapher)

鄭燮

郑燮


釤

/ʂän⁵¹ ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵/

/ʂän⁵¹ ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵/


鈕

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *nuʔ): semantic 金 (“metal”) + phonetic 丑 (OC *n̥ʰuʔ).
Possibly from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-na ~ s-naːr (“nose”); see there for more discussion.
The Manchu surname is clipping of 鈕祜祿／钮祜禄 (Niǔhùlù), from Manchu ᠨᡳᠣᡥᡠᡵᡠ (niohuru, “a wolf”).

inh

a surname, particularly common among Manchus


郭

desc

→ English: Guo, Kuo, Kwok, Kuok, Quek, Kuek, Kwek

→ Tagalog: Kwek, Que

The original version on oracle bones shows a tall tower similar to 京 and 高 (< 髙) which perhaps was part of the outer city walls in ancient Chinese cities. At the bottom, there was an enclosed space 囗 to represent city walls or a city in general and another tower.
Later, the tower at the bottom was stylized like the unrelated 子 and the enclosed space was drawn as the unrelated 回. Hence, the whole character was written like 𩫖 and 𩫏. Sometimes, the second variant had the bottom part contracted into 十.
Eventually, 邑 was added to form an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 𩫖 (“tall building”) + 邑 (“city”), hence 𩫩, sometimes simplified into 𨟍 – outer city walls with tall towers.
From clerical script, the 𩫖 became written as the unrelated 享 through the process of libian; the two characters are unrelated.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s/r-kawk ~ s/r-kwak (“outer covering; skin, bark, rind”) (STEDT, Schuessler, 2007).
; “to be none of someone's own business”

inh

Guo Shoujing (Yuan dynasty Chinese astronomer)

郭守敬


遲

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'il): semantic 辶 (“motion”) + phonetic 犀 (OC *sliːl) – to move slowly, to be late.

Han compound

迟
遟
𨒈
迡
遅
赿
邌
𢕌
⿺辶⿱㇇丰

遲重瑞

迟重瑞


運

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (運):
* → Japanese: 運(うん) (un)
* → Korean: 운(運) (un)
* → Vietnamese: vận (運)

Characters in the same phonetic series (軍) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢuns): semantic 辵 (“motion”) + phonetic 軍 (OC *kun).
STEDT relates it to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *wal (“round; circular”), which is also connected to the following:
* 圓 (OC *ɢon, “round”)
* 圜 (OC *ɡʷraːn, “round”)
* 旋 (OC *sɢʷans, “to revolve; to return”)
* 環 (OC *ɡʷraːn, “ring”)
* 還 (OC *ɡʷraːn, “to return”)
* 院 (OC *ɦŋons, “courtyard”).
暈 (OC *ɢuns, “halo”) is the same word (Schuessler, 2007). It is possibly related to 雲 (OC *ɢun, “cloud”) (ibid.).
Additionally, Karlgren (1933) relates it to 圍 (OC *ɢʷɯl, “to surround”), and Wang (1982) to 回 (OC *ɡuːl, “to return”).


釋

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (釋):
* → Japanese: 釈(しゃく) (shaku)
* → Korean: 석(釋) (seok)
* → Vietnamese: Thích (釋)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hljaɡ): semantic 釆 (“distinguish”) + phonetic 睪 (OC *neb, *laːɡ, *kuː).
;Buddhist monastic surname
Popularized by Dao'an as a common surname for all Buddhist monastics by taking the first character of Śākyamuni Buddha's transliterated Chinese name, 釋迦牟尼／释迦牟尼 (Shìjiāmóuní).

zh-l

釋迦牟尼／释迦牟尼 (Shìjiāmóuní)

At the beginning of the Wei and Jin, śramaṇas all took their surname from their teachers, and thus their surnames were all different. Dao'an believed that the archetype of all great teachers could not be anyone other than Śākya[muni], and thus gave Shi as their lineage.

Chū Wèi Jìn shāmén yī shī wèi xìng, gù xìng gè bùtóng, Ān yǐwèi dàshī zhī běn, mò zūn Shìjiā, nǎi yǐ Shì mìng shì.

初魏晉沙門依師為姓，故姓各不同，安以為大師之本，莫尊釋迦，乃以釋命氏。

初魏晋沙门依师为姓，故姓各不同，安以为大师之本，莫尊释迦，乃以释命氏。

a surname (customarily adopted by Buddhist monks and nuns upon their ordination)


鈐

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³⁵/


辛

Pictogram (象形) of a tool—chisel, awl, spike—used to mark slaves and criminals. The characters 䇂 and 亲 are two variants. The former (䇂) is the original version, while the latter is a conflation of both 亲 and 𣓀, a chisel over a tree to indicate the hazelnut branch which was flexible enough to be used as a whip.
It appears as 立 on the top of characters such as 妾, 竟, and 童. Unrelated to 音 and 競, in which it represents the tip of a tongue on top of an open mouth. See also 辡.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-sin (“liver; heart; bile; bitter”); compare Tibetan མཆིན (mchin, “liver”), Burmese သည်း (sany:, “liver”), Tangut 𗮰 (*sji², “liver”) (Gong, 2002; Schuessler, 2007; STEDT).

inh

辛棄疾／辛弃疾

Xin Qiji (Chinese poet during the Southern Song dynasty)


鉥

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 金 (“metal”) + phonetic 朮 (OC *l'ud, *ɦljud).


辰

Pictogram (象形) – a kind of agricultural tool used for tilling the fields and removing weeds (Guo, 1931; Qiu, 1992), possibly made of a kind of large clam 蜃 (OC *djɯns, *djɯnʔ, *djins) (Guo, 1931).
Alternatively, it could be a pictogram (象形) of a person holding onto a cliff – original character of 振 (OC *tjɯn, *tjɯns, “to hold up”) (Shang, 1983).
; “to vibrate”
; “fifth earthly branch”
:Smith (2011) agrees with the proposal (e.g. by Guo, 1931) that 辰 (OC dən) initially depicted an agricultural implement made from clams' shells and was the original form of 蜃 (OC dəns, “mollusc, clam”); so he proposes that the fifth earthly branch depicted the moon's second waning-gibbous phase, which looks like a clam. He also suggests that 辰 (chén) also represented the ovoid-shaped rising sun and is thus related to 晨 (chén, “early morning”).
; “time”
; “heavenly body”


采

/t͡sʰaɪ̯²¹⁴/

/t͡sʰɔːi̯³⁵/

/t͡sʰaɪ̯²¹⁴/

/t͡sʰɔːi̯³⁵/

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意). Two forms can be found in oracle bone script:
# 爪 (“hand”) + 果 (“fruit”) – a hand (爪) picking fruits from a tree (果 (guǒ)).
# 爪 (“hand”) + 木 (“tree”) – a hand (爪) picking from a tree (木 (mù)).
The current glyph is of composition 2.
Uncertain. Several etymologies have been proposed:
* From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tsa-n (“child; grandchild; nephew; niece”), whence Tibetan བཙའ (btsa', “to fruit, bear, bring forth”), བཙས (btsas, “to harvest, to reap”), possibly as well as 才 (OC *zlɯː, *zlɯːs), 子 (OC *ʔslɯʔ) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007);
* Related to Tibetan ཚོད་མ (tshod ma, “vegetables”) (Schuessler, 2007);
* Related to 穡 (OC *s.rək, “to reap; harvest”) (Baxter, 1992; Sagart, 1999; Baxter and Sagart, 2014).


農

In its current form, an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 曲 + 辰 (“field”). Top unrelated to 曲, and previously two hands, one on either side of a bundle 田 – a farmer bringing goods to market, from the field 辰.
Probably Sino-Tibetan. Cognate with 耨 (OC *noːɡs, *nuːɡ, “hoe, rake; to weed”), possibly derived from it with the terminative suffix *-ŋ for action with a goal, i.e. "to get a field hoed" > "cultivated"; compare 亡 (OC *maŋ, “to disappear”) from 無 (OC *ma, “(there is) no”) (Schuessler, 2007).
Huang (2000), Norman (1983) and Zhou (1986) hypothesised that this is the same etymon as 儂 (OC *nuːŋ, “person, I, me”). See there for more.


轉

/ʈ͡ʂu̯än²¹⁴/

/ʈ͡ʂu̯än²¹⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tonʔ, *tons): semantic 車 (“carriage”) + phonetic 專 (OC *tjon).
Possibly related to:
* Old Tibetan འདྲུལ ('drul, “to transmit; to communicate”) (Schuessler, 2007), or
* Tibetan སྲུལ (srul, “to move to and fro; to stir”), Burmese ရွေ့ (rwe., “to move; to be displaced”), ရွှေ့ (hrwe., “to move or shift something”) (Starostin).
An allofam is perhaps *don (“round”). Compare Vietnamese tròn (“round; circle; entire; whole”), trọn (“fully; completely; all”), as well as the following Chinese words:
* 團 (OC *doːn, “ball; circle; lump”),
* 摶 (OC *doːn, *doːn, *donʔ, “to roll up into a ball”).
Derivative: 傳 (OC *tons, *don, *dons, “to relay; to pass on; to transfer; relay station; biography; record”).

och-l

转
返
转
转
转
撙
捘


色

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (色):
* → Japanese: 色(しき) (shiki); 色(しょく) (shoku)
* → Korean: 색(色) (saek)
* → Vietnamese: sắc (色)

Burmese language
Japhug language
Mizo language
Proto-Sino-Tibetan language
Shuowen

Characters in the same phonetic series (色) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 爪 (“claw; hand”) + 卩 (“kneeling person”) – complexion.
Shuowen interprets this character as an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 人 (“person; human”) + 卩 (“etiquette”) – complexion.
Compare 印, 抑.
Sometimes, especially in folk etymology, the character is misinterpreted as a proto-form of 絕. The bottom part of the radical is unrelated to 巴.
Possibly from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-r(j)ak ~ *g-jak (“ashamed; shy”), whence Burmese ရှက် (hrak, “ashamed; shy”), Japhug tɤ-zraʁ (“shame”) (Schuessler, 2007; Jacques, 2015b).
Alternatively, Schuessler (2007) connects this word to Mizo sâr (“prismatic colours seen in the sky in fine weather; to be healthy-looking, ruddy”), which would point to a form *sər-k from which the Old Chinese was derived.
彩 (OC *s.r̥ˤəʔ, “colour”) may be a dialectal variant (Baxter, 1992; Baxter and Sagart, 2014).


銑

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sɯːnʔ): semantic 釒 + phonetic 先 (OC *sɯːn, *sɯːns).
Compare Tibetan གསེར (gser, “gold”) (Hill, 2019).


釐

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *rɯ): phonetic 𠩺 () + semantic 里.


銷

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sew): semantic 金 + phonetic 肖 (OC *slew, *slews).


足

Characters in the same phonetic series (足) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) of a leg; the pictogram is similar to ⽦.
Uncertain. Compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *ɟuŋ ~ *ɟuəŋ ~ *ɟəŋ (“leg, foot”), whence Mon ဇိုၚ် (cf. Schuessler, 2007).


遷

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵/

迁
𨙙
䙴
𠨧
䙲
𢍱
𦦉
𦦒
𢍹
𦧂
𨙞
迁
拪
䢬
𢰕
𢫥
𠨩
𠨨
𨔰
𨗺
𨗇
𨕞
𨗢
𨒿
𨙘
𪝴

改觀

to change appearance, to change one's view


路

Muong language
Proto-Vietic language
Vietnamese language
Waic languages

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡ·raːɡs): semantic 足 + phonetic 各 (OC *klaːɡ).
Either related to 格 (OC *klaːɡ, *kraːɡ, “to come, to arrive (obsolete)”) (Baxter, 1992) or from Austroasiatic (Schuessler, 2007). Compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *kraʔ (“road, way”), whence Proto-Vietic *kraːʔ (→ fossilized Vietnamese sá & Muong khá (“road, way”)), Chong khraa, Kuy (k)na, and Proto-Waic *kraʔ. Possibly cognate with 略 (OC *ɡ·raɡ).
; "-year-old, in multiples of ten"


鍊

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡ·reːns): semantic 金 (“metal”) + phonetic 柬 (OC *kreːnʔ).


鎦

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


鍾

钟
锺
*鐘
鈡
螤
𦉂

Zhong Hui (military general and politician of Cao Wei)

鍾會

锺会

鍾南山

钟南山


連

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 辶 (“to walk”) + 車 (“chariot”) – man-drawn carriage.
According to Duan Yucai, 聯／联 (lián) and 連 are two characters for a same word, with the former used in the Zhou dynasty and the latter in the Han dynasty.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-rjan (“equal; to place in a row; to align; row”); related to 聯 (OC *ɡ·ron) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007).

inh

Lien Chan (chairman of the Kuomintang from 2000 to 2005)

連戰

连战


鑢

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ras): semantic 金 (“metal; gold”) + phonetic 慮 (OC *ras)


錘

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯eɪ̯³⁵/

/t͡sʰɵy̯²¹⁻³⁵/

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯eɪ̯³⁵/

/t͡sʰɵy̯²¹⁻³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *dol, *dols, *du): semantic 金 + phonetic 垂 (OC *djol).

Han compound

锤
*鎚
捶
𨭇
𨪼
𨫻


鈍

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *duːns): semantic 金 (“metal”) + phonetic 屯 (OC *duːn, *tun).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-t(u/i)l (“dull; blunt”). Compare Tibetan རྟུལ (rtul, “dull; blunt”).


還

→ Thai: หวน (hǔuan)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡʷraːn, *sɢʷan): semantic 辵 (“walk”) + phonetic 睘 (OC *ɡʷeŋ) – to go back; to return.
; “to return”
; "still; also"

即以其人之道，還治其人之身／即以其人之道，还治其人之身

jí yǐ qí rén zhī dào, huán zhì qí rén zhī shēn


走

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 夭 (“young, running man”) + 止 (“foot”) – a running man. The original version is 𧺆.
The top component (夭) is simplified to the unrelated 土. See also the top component of 去 and 赤.
As with 圭, there are two separate vertical strokes, not a single one.
Schuessler (2007) considers this to be part of a large Sino-Tibetan word family, including 搜 (OC *sru, “to move”), 速 (OC *sloːɡ, “quick”), 夙 (OC *suɡ, “morning”), 聳 (OC *sloŋʔ, “to excite”), 蔌 (OC *sloːɡ, “vegetables”), which derive from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-sow (“to arise; to awake”).

被難

to be killed in a disaster, political incident


鄉

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 𠨍 (“two people facing each other”) + 皀 (“a round-mouthed food vessel”) – to feast; the original script of 饗 (OC *qʰaŋʔ). The sense "village" was a result of phonetic borrowing or semantic shifting.
In early writing, the character was virtually indistinguishable from 卿 (OC *kʰraŋ). Semantically, 卿 (OC *kʰraŋ, “elder; leader”) and 鄉 (OC *qʰaŋ, “community; district; village”), likely cognates too, were both represented by the event depicted in the ideogram – 饗 (OC *qʰaŋʔ, “ritual feasting”), which was central to the community life (Yang, 1965).
The right half is unrelated to 郎, as 良 in 鄉 was derived from 皀 during the formation of the clerical script.


鈴

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (鈴):
* → Japanese: 鈴(れい) (rei); 鈴(りん) (rin)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *reːŋ): semantic 金 + phonetic 令 (OC *ren, *reŋ, *reŋs, *reːŋ, *reːŋs).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mriŋ (“sound; noise; animal cry”); cognate with 鳴 (OC *mreŋ, “to make a sound”), 笙 (OC *sreŋ), Burmese မြည် (mrany, “to make a sound”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT).


鑰

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *lowɢ): semantic 金 + phonetic 龠 (OC *lowɢ).


鐸

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'aːɡ): semantic 金 (“metal”) + phonetic 睪 (OC *neb, *laːɡ, *kuː).


邊

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (邊):
* → Japanese: 辺(へん) (hen)
* → Korean: 변(邊) (byeon)
* → Vietnamese: biên (邊)

desc

→ Vietnamese: bên (“side; edge; face; beside”)

→ Vietnamese: ven (“shore; bank; side”)

Originally 臱. Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mpeːn): phonetic 臱 (OC *men) + semantic 辶 (“walking;movement”). The semantic component 辵 (now 辶) was added during bronze inscriptions.
Perhaps cognate with 偏 (OC *pʰen, *pʰens, “side; oblique”), 片 (OC *pʰeːns, “partial; one-sided”), 諞 (OC *ben, *brenʔ, *benʔ, “glib-tongued; insincere”) (Schuessler, 2007).
Based on Old Vietnamese data, Gong (2019) proposes the additional preinitial *tə- to the Baxter-Sagart reconstruction.
; “to have hot pot”


閆

From the cursive script form of 閻. 闫 was adopted as the simplified form of 閻 in the second round of simplified Chinese characters.
From 閻. After the retraction of the second round of simplification in Mainland China, some people have continued to use 闫 as their surname, but others have changed it to 阎, separating the two variants of the same surname into two different surnames.


鐘

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (鐘):
* → Japanese: 鐘(しょう) (shō)
* → Korean: 종(鐘) (jong)

desctree

→ Middle Vietnamese: chuâng
Vietnamese: chuông

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjoŋ, *tjoŋ): semantic 金 + phonetic 童 (OC *doːŋ). It indicates a bell, including a bronze large bell used in rituals in ancient China.

Han compound

† - requires the classifier 個; ‡ - can be used with or without the classifier 個; § - requires the classifier 粒; * - requires the classifier 句; ¶ - requires the classifier 隻; × - cannot be used with a classifier


閔

Han char

閔 (Kangxi radical 169, 門+4, 12 strokes, cangjie input 日弓卜大 (ANYK), four-corner 7740₀, composition ⿵門文)


閔

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mrɯnʔ): semantic 門 (“gate”) + phonetic 文 (OC *mɯn)


闚

For pronunciation and definitions of 闚 – see 窺 (“to peep”).
(This character is a variant form of 窺).


酸

→? Proto-Hmong-Mien: *suj (“sour”)

/ɬᵘɔn³³⁻³³⁵/

/ɬᵘɔn³³⁻³³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sloːn): semantic 酉 + phonetic 夋 (OC *sʰlun).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *suːr ~ *swaːr (“sour; be acid”) (STEDT). Cognate with Mizo thûr (“acid; sour”).


那

那英


銅

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (銅):
* → Japanese: 銅(どう) (dō)
* → Korean: 동(銅) (dong)
* → Vietnamese: đồng (銅, “copper; dong (Vietnamese currency)”) (see there for further descendants)

desc

→ Khmer: ទង់ (tŭəng, “bronze; red copper; alloy of copper and gold”), ថង (thɑɑng, “gold”), ទង (tɔɔng, “gold”)

→ Lao: ທອງ (thǭng, “copper; gold; metal”)

→ Thai: ทอง (tɔɔng, “gold”)

→ Zhuang: doengz (“copper; brass”)

Characters in the same phonetic series (同) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *doːŋ): semantic 金 (“metal”) + phonetic 同 (OC *doːŋ).
Since metals are typically associated with color, the word is probably related to 彤 (OC *l'uːŋ, “red”) (Schuessler, 2007).
The word "copper" occurs in some Southeast Asian languages with initial l- (Sagart, 1999). Examples include Zhuang luengz, Bouyei luangz and Bu-Nao Bunu loŋ², which are early loans from Chinese.
Tibetan དོང་ཙེ (dong tse, “Chinese copper coin”) was borrowed from Chinese 銅子／铜子 (tóngzǐ).

zh-l

銅子／铜子 (tóngzǐ)


閭

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ra): semantic 門 (“gate”) + phonetic 呂 (OC *ɡ·raʔ).


適

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


閘

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *klaːb, *sɡreːb, *qraːb): semantic 門 (“gate”) + phonetic 甲 (OC *kraːb).


閱

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *lod): semantic 門 + phonetic 兌 (OC *l'oːds).


野

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *laːʔ, *ɦljaʔ): semantic 田 (“field”) + semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 予 (OC *la, *laʔ).
Various etymologies have been proposed:
* From a hypothetical common Sino-Tibetan *la (“area far from settlements; wilderness”): compare Tibetan ལ (la, “mountain pass; hillside; mountainslope”) (Schuessler, 2007);
* Related to Proto-Mon-Khmer *laʔ (“to spread, extend”): compare Khmer លា (liə, “to unfold, spread, open out”) (Schuessler, 2007);
* From a Sino-Tibetan root meaning “hut; pantry”: compare Tibetan ལྷས (lhas, “pen; fold; cattle enclosure”) (Starostin).


遠

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷanʔ, *ɢʷans): semantic 辵 (“walk”) + phonetic 袁 (OC *ɢʷan).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-wəj-n (“far”) (STEDT). Cognate with Proto-Lolo-Burmese *wəj² (“far”), whence Burmese ဝေး (we:, “far”).


閻

閻錫山

阎锡山


閤

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kuːb): semantic 門 (“door”) + phonetic 合 (OC *kuːb, *ɡuːb).
Compare 蓋 (OC *kaːbs, *kaːb, *ɡaːb, “to cover”) (STEDT).


閩

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mrɯn, *mɯn): phonetic 門 (OC *mɯːn) + semantic 虫 (“snake”). The 虫 radical was a common component of the names of barbarians (Schuessler, 2007), probably reflecting the Min people's worship of snakes (Li, 2017).
Matisoff (2003) relates it to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-b/m-ruːl (“snake”), but this comparison is no longer held in STEDT.
In most modern Min dialects and some other southern dialects (including Hakka and Xiang), it is read with a level tone (平聲), which is the expected reflex based on rime dictionaries. In Mandarin and the remaining southern dialects, it is read with a rising tone (上聲), probably due to analogy with the phonetic component of 閔 (MC minX) (Li, 2017).


陝

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *hljemʔ): semantic 阜 + phonetic 㚒 ().


鎮

desc

→ Lü: ᦵᦈᦲᧃᧈ (ṫsoen¹)

→ Lü: ᦵᦈᦲᧃᧈ (ṫsoen¹)

→ Zhuang: cin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tin, *tins): semantic 金 (“metal”) + phonetic 真 (OC *ʔljin) – to press down on (with a metal weight).


闖

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯ɑŋ²¹⁴/

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯ɑŋ²¹⁴/


雒

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-rik ~ s-ryak (“pheasant, partridge”); see 雉 (OC *l'iʔ, “pheasant”) for more (STEDT).


閒

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 門 (“door”) + 月 (“moon”) – moonlight peeking through a door – interstice; space (original character of 間).
Karlgren (1957) and Baxter (1992) connect this word with 間 (OC *kreːn, “interstice time”).
Alternatively, Pulleyblank (1973) suggests that it is cognate with 暇 (OC *ɡraːs, “to be at leisure”).
Schuessler (2007) considers this unrelated to 間 (OC *kreːn, *kreːns), and instead proposes that this is borrowed from Tai languages, akin to Thai คร้าน (kráan, “lazy; indolent”). 懶 (OC *raːnʔ, “lazy”) may be a colloquial reflex of the same word (ibid.).


隗

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋɡuːlʔ): semantic 阝 (“soil mountain”) + phonetic 鬼 (OC *kulʔ).


隗

Wang Guowei (1923) (apud Khayutina, 2016) connects this surname, also written as 媿／愧 (kuí), to the ethnonym 鬼方 (Guǐfāng).

Lu, Luo, Quan, Xu, and Pu were all Red Di, surnamed Kui.

韋昭 Wei Zhao,《國語注》Commentaries on Discourses of the States, Ch. 16

Lù, Luò, Quán, Xú, Pú, jiē Chìdí, Kuí xìng yě.

潞、洛、泉、徐、蒲，皆赤狄，隗姓也。


阜

→ Lao: ພູ (phū)

desc

→ Thai: ภู (puu, “mound, mountain, hill”)

Pictogram (象形), a row of steps on a hill, still visible in the upper part 𠂤. The original version is 𨸏.
Probably from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ʔ-bu ~ *pu (“to be born; birth; bud; bloom”). Compare Burmese ဖူး (hpu:, “to bud”), as well as 孢 (“spore”), 皰 (OC *pʰruːs, *bruːs, “pimple, blister”) (STEDT), 苞 (OC *pruː, “bud; luxuriant”).


雍

Variant form of 雝. It's likely that the phonetic component 邕 (OC *qoŋ) corrupted into 玄 at some point since their shapes looked similar in pre-Qin scripts.


里

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (里):
* → Japanese: 里(り) (ri)
* → Korean: 리(里) (ri)
* → Vietnamese: lý (里)

English: li

Characters in the same phonetic series (里) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 田 (“field”) + 土 (“soil; earth”) – a measure of land and fields; mile; place.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r/g-wa (“village”) (STEDT). Cognate with 丘 (OC *kʰʷɯ) "hill, mound" & 街 (OC *kreː, *kreː) "road crossing, street"; outsides Sinitic, cognate with Mizo khua (“village”), Lai khûa (“village, cosmos”), Burmese ရွာ (rwa, “village”); Schuessler (2007) also proposes cognacy with Tibetan ར་བ (ra ba, “fence, enclosure, wall, pen”) by pointing to a semantic parallel between English town and German Zaun (“fence”).
Alternatively, possibly related to 理 (lǐ) "to divide into equal sections", yet Schuessler also noted that early Chinese villages were not systematically planned and platted.


都

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (都):
* → Japanese: 都(と) (to)
* → Korean: 도(都) (do)
* → Vietnamese: đô (都)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *taː): phonetic 者 (OC *tjaːʔ) + semantic 邑 (“town, city”).


雋

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 隹 (“bird”) + 弓 (“bow”).
A bow is aiming at a bird upward.
Likely from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tsow-s (“fat, omentum”); cognate with Tibetan ཚོ་བ (tsho ba, “fat”), Burmese ဆူ (hcu, “plump”), as well as 臇 (OC *ʔsol, *ʔsonʔ, “thick meat stew”) (STEDT).


霄

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sew): semantic 雨 (“rain”) + phonetic 肖 (OC *slew, *slews).


階

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (階):
* → Japanese: 階(かい) (kai)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kriːl): semantic 阝 + phonetic 皆 (OC *kriːl).


隴

→ English: Long, Lung

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


錢

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (錢):
* → Japanese: 銭(せん) (sen, “mace”)
* → Korean: 전(錢) (jeon, “mace”)
* → Vietnamese: tiền (錢, “money”)

→ English: Qian, Chien, Tsien, Chin

→ Proto-Hmong-Mien: *dzi̯en (“money”)

→ Thai: สิน (sǐn, “money”)

→ Malay: ci (“mace”)

→ Mongolian: цэн (cen)

→ Zhuang: cienz (“money; coin; mace”)

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑɻ³⁵/

/t͡sʰiːn²¹⁻³⁵/

/tʰen²²⁻²²⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³⁵/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑɻ³⁵/

/t͡sʰiːn²¹⁻³⁵/

/tʰen²²⁻²²⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔslenʔ, *zlen): semantic 金 (“metal; gold; money”) + phonetic 戔 (OC *zlaːn).

Han compound

錢穆

钱穆

a surname. Qian, listed second in the Baijiaxing & the dynasty of the kings of Wuyue


鞮

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *teː): semantic 革 (“leather”) + phonetic 是 (OC *djeʔ).


隋

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

→ English: Sui

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l̥ʰoːlʔ, *l'oːlʔ, *ljol): abbreviated phonetic 隓 (OC *hlol) + semantic 肉 (“meat”).
The use of this character for the dynasty name was created by its first emperor from the character 隨／随 (suí).


隨

→ English: Sui

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ljol): semantic 辵 (“walking”) + abbreviated phonetic 𡐦


鎖

→ Zhuang: suj

via Old Chinese:

→ Burmese: သော့ (sau.)

→ Mon: သအ်

→ Khmer: សោ (sao)

→ Shan: သေႃး (sáu)

→ Khün: ᨪᩳ

→ Lü: ᦌᦸ (soa)

→⇒ Middle Korean: 솨줄〮 (swàcwúl)

→ Old Uyghur: 𐽻𐽳𐽰 (sua)

⇒ Old Uyghur: 𐽻𐽳𐽰𐾁𐽰𐽹𐽰𐽷 (suala-)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *soːlʔ): semantic 金 (“metal”) + phonetic 𧴪 ().


韋

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 舛 + 囗 – footsteps around an enclosure. Possibly the original character for 圍 (OC *ɢʷɯl, *ɢʷɯls, “to surround”). Phonetically borrowed to indicate "tanned leather".
The footprint on top is stylized as 𫝀, which is similar but unrelated to 五.

Wei Changhui (North King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom)

韋昌輝

韦昌辉


鞏

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *koŋʔ): phonetic 巩 (OC *koŋʔ) + semantic 革.

Han compound

鞏俐

巩俐


霍

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 雨 (“rain”) + 隹 (“bird”)
Probably related to 曜 (OC *lewɢs, “to shine; daylight”); see there for more (STEDT).

Huo Qubing (Chinese military general in the Western Han dynasty)

霍去病


鐵

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (鐵):
* → Japanese: 鉄(てつ) (tetsu)
* → Korean: 철(鐵) (cheol)

→ Proto-Hmong: *ʰluwꟲ

→ Proto-Mien: *ʰrɛkᴰ

→ Proto-Tai: *ʰlekᴰ

Proto-Southwestern Tai: *ʰlekᴰ¹ˢ

Ahom: 𑜎𑜢𑜀𑜫 (lik)

Lao: ເຫຼັກ (lek)

Lü: ᦵᦜᧅ (l̇ek)

Shan: လဵၵ်း (láek)

Tai Nüa: ᥘᥥᥐᥱ (lěk)

Thai: เหล็ก (lèk)

Nong Zhuang: liak

Zhuang: lek, lik

→ Proto-Vietic: *k-rac

Middle Vietnamese: sắt

Vietnamese: sắt

Muong: khách

→ Zhuang: diet

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l̥ʰiːɡ): semantic 金 (“metal”) + phonetic 𢧤 (). The original version, according to the Shuowen Jiezi, is 𨮯, with 大 on top, hence the original phonetic component should be not 𢧜.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *hljak (“iron”). Cognate with Tibetan ལྕགས (lcags). According to the Shuowen, alternative forms included 銕 (OC *l'iːl, *l̥ʰiːd). Compare 驖 (OC *l̥ʰiːɡ, *l'iːɡ, “black horse”).

Han compound

铁
𨬿
鐡
𨮯
𨫓
銕
鉄
䥫
*鋨


霞

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡraː): semantic 雨 (“rain”) + phonetic 叚 (OC *kraːʔ).


陶

→ Thai: เตา (dtao)

In oracle bone and bronze inscriptions, ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): a mound of dirt (阜) + two people (勹) + earth (土) – "to dig", original character of 掏. The shapes beneath the outermost 勹 were corrupted in bamboo slips, arriving at the modern form 缶 in seal script.
Now a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *bl'uː, *luː) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 阝 (“soil mountain”) + phonetic 匋 (OC *bl'uː, “make pottery”).

Han compound

Tao Xingzhi (renowned Chinese educator and reformer)

陶行知

Taojialing (a village in Yonglong, Jingshan, Jingmen, Hubei, China)

陶家嶺村

陶家岭村


防

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *baŋ, *baŋs): semantic 阝 + phonetic 方 (OC *paŋ, *baŋ).


陵

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *rɯŋ): semantic 阜 (“mound”) + phonetic 夌 (OC *rɯŋ, “mound; hill”). Originally written 夌.
; "mound; hill; gravemound of an emperor"
; "to mount; to transgress; to encroach upon"


頡

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kriːd, *ɡiːd): phonetic 吉 (OC *klid) + semantic 頁 (“head”).


頤

May have originally been written 𦣞, a pictogram (象形) of a chin, in which case the modern form is an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *lɯ): phonetic 𦣞 (, “chin”) + semantic 頁 (“head”).

颐
頥
𦣞
𦣝
𩠛
𩠢
𩠡
頉
顊


餽

For pronunciation and definitions of 餽 – see 饋 (“to send gift; to offer food to a superior; etc.”).
(This character is a variant traditional form of 饋).


頗

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰaːl, *pʰaːlʔ, *pʰaːls): phonetic 皮 (OC *bral) + semantic 頁.


除

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'a, *l'as): semantic 阜 + phonetic 余 (OC *la).


降

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (降):
* → Vietnamese: giáng (降)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kruːŋs, *ɡruːŋ) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): semantic 阝 (“hill, wall”) + phonetic 夅 (OC *ɡruːŋ, “to descend”) – descending a hill.

Han compound

夅
𨹓
𡲣
𡲛
夅
𨹓
𡲣
𡲛
𫱔


閃

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 門 (“gate”) + 人 (“person”) — a person running through a gate.
Possibly iterative devoicing of 燄 (OC *lamʔ, “to be flaming up”) (Schuessler, 2007).


頁

Pictogram (象形): 首 + 卩 – head of a kneeling person, emphasising “head”.
頁 and 首 (OC *hljuʔ, *hljus) were originally the same pictographic character with the same meaning of “head”, and the graphical difference was that 頁 also included the body in addition to the head of the person.
頁 was later used as an alternative popular form of 葉 (“leaf; page”) to mean “sheet; page (of paper)”, which is its main meaning today.
The original sense of “head” is preserved in the radical 頁, which is used in characters such as 頭 (“head”) and 頸 (“neck”).
Alternative form of 葉／叶 (“leaf; sheet (of paper)”).


韓

→ English: Han, Hon

→ Zhuang: hanz

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡaːn): phonetic 倝 (OC *kaːns) + semantic 韋 (“surround”).

Han compound

Han Yu (Tang dynasty writer and government official)

韓愈

韩愈


院

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɦŋoːn, *ɦŋons): semantic 阝 + phonetic 完 (OC *ɦŋoːn).


革

Characters in the same phonetic series (革) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – a stretched animal hide: the upper is head, the bottom is the tail and legs. The hands 臼 around the hide were briefly added later.
Compare 皮 (pí), which also features a hide.
Appears to be related to 殼 (OC *kʰroːɡ, “shell, husk”); see there for more (STEDT).


靖

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *zleŋʔ): semantic 立 (“to stand; to establish”) + phonetic 青 (OC *sʰleːŋ).
Same word as 靜 (OC *zleŋʔ, “to keep quiet”) (Schuessler, 2007). See there for more.


靈

Characters in the same phonetic series (霝) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Found as 𩆜 in Shuowen: Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *reːŋ): phonetic 霝 (OC *reːŋ) + semantic 玉 (“jade”).
The semantic component 玉 (“jade”) may be replaced with 巫 (“witch”), as in the current form, or with 心 (“heart”) or 示 (“memorial tablet”) in the ancient bronze inscription forms.

Han compound

灵
𫻝
𬰑
𫲚
𬋣
㚑
霊
霛
䨩
𠳄
𡀓
𢩙
𢩝
𤫊
𤴤
龗
𧈀
𧨈
𫕞
𩂊
𩂳
𩃏
𩆇
𩆈
𩄀
𩃗
𩃞
𩄇
𩅶
𢩙
𢩝
𢩗
𩆕
𩆜
𩆮
𩇎


須

Pictogram (象形): 彡 (“hair”) + 頁 (“head”) – a head with hair on its side – beard; whiskers — original character of 鬚 (OC *so). Originally a single picture, but abstracted in the seal script into a compound.
; “to wait”

须
湏
⿰⿱分巾頁*
⿰⿱分立頁*
⿰⿱分豆頁*


震

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tjɯn): semantic 雨 + phonetic 辰 (OC *djɯn).
Related to 振 (OC *tjɯns, “to shake”), probably from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *dar ~ d(u/i)r (“to tremble; to shiver”) (Schuessler, 2007).


顛

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tiːn, *tʰiːns): phonetic 真 (OC *ʔljin) + semantic 頁 (“head”).
; “top; peak”


題

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *deː, *deːs): phonetic 是 (OC *djeʔ) + semantic 頁 (“head”) – “forehead”.


阿

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (阿):
* → Japanese: 阿(あ) (a)
* → Korean: 아(阿) (a)


達

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *tʰaːd, *daːd): semantic 辶 + phonetic 羍 (OC *tʰaːd).
Note that inner component is not 幸 – these are not related, and there is an extra stroke in 達 (two horizontal strokes at the bottom, not one).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *dat (“live; alive”). Cognate with Tibetan སྡོད (sdod, “to stay; to sit; to live”) and Proto-Lolo-Burmese *dat (“alive”).

阿胡拉·馬茲達

Āhúlā Mǎzīdá

阿胡拉·马兹达

Āhúlā Mǎzīdá


顧

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʷaːs): phonetic 雇 (OC *kʷaːs, *ɡʷaːʔ) + semantic 頁.

Han compound

Gu Yanwu (Chinese scholar-official during the latter part of the Ming dynasty into the early part of the Qing)

顧炎武

顾炎武


駱

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

Han compound

駱賓王

骆宾王


陳

desc

→ English: Chen, Ch'en, Chan, Chun, Chin, Tan, Tang

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

Chen Zi'ang (Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty)

陳子昂

陈子昂

Chen Shui-bian (President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), 2000-2008)

陳水扁

陈水扁

a surname, listed tenth in the Baijiaxing: Chen, Chan, Chun, Chin, Tan


馮

→ English: Feng, Fung, Fong, Foong, Pang

→ Tagalog: Fung

→ Vietnamese: Phùng, 馮

→ English: Phung

→ French: Phung

→ Indonesian: Phung

→ Indonesian: Fung, Phung

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *brɯŋ, *bɯŋ): phonetic 仌 (OC *pŋrɯŋ, *ŋrɯŋ) + semantic 馬 (“horse”).

Han compound

Feng Guozhang (Chinese general and politician in early republican China)

馮國璋

冯国璋


關

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (關):
* → Japanese: 関(かん) (kan)
* → Korean: 관(關) (gwan)
* → Vietnamese: quan (關)

→ English: Guan, Kwan

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kroːn): semantic 門 (“door”) + phonetic 𢇅 () – to stop the door from opening with a wooden stick.
The bronze inscription was in the form of 門 (“door”) + 卝 (“door closed”). 卝 might also serve as a phonetic component.
Compare Proto-Southwestern Tai *klɔːnᴬ² (“latch of door; rafter”), whence Thai กลอน (glɔɔn) (Schuessler, 2007).

cog

关
関
𨶚
𢇅
𬮦
闗
閞

關羽／关羽

Guan Yu (Chinese general of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period)


雅

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (雅):
* → Japanese: 雅(が) (ga)
* → Korean: 아(雅) (a)
* → Vietnamese: nhã (雅)


饒

Sino-Xenic (饒):
* → Vietnamese: nhiêu (饒)

→ Proto-Vietic: *ɲiew

Vietnamese: nhiều

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋjew, *ŋjaws): semantic 食 (“food”) + phonetic 堯 (OC *ŋeːw).

Han compound

饒宗頤

饶宗颐


陸

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *m·ruɡ): semantic 阝 + phonetic 坴 (OC *m·ruɡ).
Perhaps related to Proto-Wa (*[ʔ]rok, "dry land") (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

陆
𤱒
𡽷
𨽐
𨽰
𨽫
𨽱
𠃈

陸游

陆游


魋

White Hmong: dais

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯eɪ̯³⁵/

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯eɪ̯³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *duːl): semantic 鬼 (“ghost”) + phonetic 隹 (OC *tjul).


驪

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *reːl, *rel): semantic 馬 (“horse”) + phonetic 麗 (OC *reːls, *rel).


頓

edit中斷

temporarily; to be willing to give up; chiefly in the negative


餘

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *la): semantic 食 + phonetic 余 (OC *la).


項

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡroːŋʔ): phonetic 工 (OC *koːŋ) + semantic 頁 (“head”).


銀

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (銀):
* → Japanese: 銀(ぎん) (gin)
* → Okinawan: 銀(じん) (jin)
* → Korean: 은(銀) (eun)
* → Vietnamese: ngân (銀)

→ Proto-Hmong-Mien: *ɲʷi̯ən (“silver”)

White Hmong: nyiaj (“silver, money”)

→ Lao: ເງິນ (ngœn, “silver, money”)

→ Thai: เงิน (ngən, “silver, money”)

desc

→ Vietnamese: ngần (“silvery white; very white”)

→ Zhuang: ngaenz (“silver, money”)

/ᵑɡan²²⁻²²⁵/

/ᵑɡan²²⁻²²⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋrɯn): semantic 金 (“metal”) + phonetic 艮 (OC *kɯːns).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ŋul ~ (d-)ŋur. Cognate with Tibetan དངུལ (dngul), Burmese ငွေ (ngwe).


駒

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ko): semantic 馬 (“horse”) + phonetic 句 (OC *koː, *koːs, *kos, *ɡo).
Ultimately from Sanskrit घोट (ghoṭa), घोड (ghoḍa) (see घोटक (ghoṭaka) for Indo-Aryan descendants), which has been borrowed into many Sino-Tibetan languages; cognate with Proto-Tani *kɯ, Mizo sa-kawr (STEDT 6023).
Alternatively, Wang (1982) relates this to 狗 (OC *koːʔ, “dog; puppy”), 羔 (OC *kluː, “lamb”), 𤘽 (“calf”).


陽

CJKV/code

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

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *laŋ) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): semantic 阜 (“hill”) + phonetic 昜 (OC *laŋ, “sunshine”) – sun shining on a hill.
Either Sino-Tibetan or a Mainland Southeast Asian (MSEA) Wanderwort; compare Burmese လင်း (lang:, “bright”), Lepcha ᰣᰦᰜᰩᰵ (a-lóṅ, “reflective light”), Thai ปลั่ง (bplàng, “bright; shiny”) (Schuessler, 2007).
STEDT provisionally sets up Proto-Kuki-Chin *klaaŋ-I, klaan-II (“shine; light; bright”) and compares it to the following:
* 陽 (OC *laŋ, “sunshine”)
* 景 (OC *kraŋʔ, “bright; scenery”)
* 鏡 (OC *kraŋs, “mirror”)
* 亮 (OC *raŋs, “bright”)
* 章 (OC *kjaŋ, “brilliant, splendid; rule; emblem; display (v.)”)

och-l

阳
𣆄
氜
阦
𨹈
𥌖
𨼗
𨼘
𨼡
𨽐
羊


雙

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (雙):
* → Japanese: 双(そう) (sō)
* → Korean: 쌍(雙) (ssang)
* → Vietnamese: song (雙)

→ Proto-Mien: *suŋᴬ (“pair”)

→ Proto-Tai: *soːŋᴬ (“two”)

Bouyei: soongl

Proto-Southwestern Tai: *sɔːŋᴬ

Ahom: 𑜏𑜨𑜂𑜫 (soṅ)

Lao: ສອງ (sǭng)

Lü: ᦉᦸᧂ (ṡoang)

Northern Thai: ᩈᩬᨦ

Shan: သွင် (sǎung)

Tai Dam: ꪎꪮꪉ

Tai Nüa: ᥔᥩᥒᥴ (sóang)

Thai: สอง (sɔ̌ɔng)

Zhuang: song

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意): 雔 (“two birds”) + 又 (“hand”) – Represents two birds (隹) in someone's right hand (又).
Several etymologies have been posited:
* From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *dzum ~ tsum (“pair”), whence Jingpho zum (“to be in pairs”), Burmese စုံ (cum, “pair”), but this comparison may be problematic given the mismatch in the final nasal (STEDT).
* Related to Tibetan ཟུང (zung, “pair; couple”), Mru [script needed] (choŋ, “pair”) (Coblin, 1986; Löffler, 1966; Schuessler, 2007), but this would require assuming the Proto-Sino-Tibetan word to be *C-zuŋ (Schuessler, 2007). Jacques (2015b) rules out the possibility of comparing with the Tibetan word because Tibetan z- comes from *dz.
* Doublet of 孿 (OC *smroːns, *smrons, “twin”) (Baxter, 1992), but this has been related to Jingpho marun (“to have twins”) (from run (“to be in pairs”)), which would point to yet another Proto-Sino-Tibetan root *run (Schuessler, 2007).

inh

双
㕠
䨇
䨥
𩀝
𩆿
𩀱


鏡

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (鏡):
* → Japanese: 鏡(きょう) (kyō)
* → Korean: 경(鏡) (gyeong)
* → Vietnamese: kính (鏡)

→ Vietnamese: gương

→ Zhuang: gingq

/kiaŋ³³⁻³³⁵/

/kiaŋ³³⁻³³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kraŋs): semantic 金 (“metal”) + phonetic 竟 (OC *kraŋs).
Probably cognate with 景 (OC *kraŋʔ, “bright”), 影 (OC *qraŋʔ, “shadow”) (Wang, 1982; Schuessler, 2007; Baxter and Sagart, 2014). Gong (2019) identifies the unknown preinitial *C in the reconstruction by Baxter and Sagart (2014) with *s based on evidence from Old Vietnamese, and further posits that it is an instrumental noun derived by prefixation of *s- to the verb 映 (OC *qraŋs, “to reflect”), which is itself a denominal derived from 影 (OC *qraŋʔ, “shadow; image”).
Alternatively, it may be derived from 亮 (OC *raŋs, “to shine”) with the nominalising *k- prefix (Schuessler, 2007; apud Baxter, p.c.).
STEDT compares 鏡, 景 and 亮, among others, to Proto-Kuki-Chin *klaaŋ-I, *klaan-II (“to shine; light; bright”).
This word is relatively late and is perhaps re-etymologized from the nearly identical earlier word 監 (OC *kraːms), 鑑 (OC *kraːms, “mirror”) (Schuessler, 2007), which Wang (1982) treats as cognate. Gong (2019) considers 鏡 to be an unrelated neologism replacing 鑑.


額

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋɡraːɡ): phonetic 客 (OC *kʰraːɡ) + semantic 頁 (“head”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ŋa-k (“forehead; cockscomb”).
This word is only attested during Han and later. Wang (1982) suggested that it is cognate with 顏 (OC *ŋraːn, “face”), whereas Schuessler (2007) considers it a semantic extension of 詻 (OC *ŋɡraːɡ, “to face”).
The relationship to Proto-Mon-Khmer *[t₁]ʔah (“forehead”), whence Khmer ថ្ងាស (thngaah), is unclear.


騰

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l'ɯːŋ): phonetic 朕 (OC *l'ɯmʔ) + semantic 馬 (“horse”) – a horses’ gallop, prance.


領

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (領):
* → Japanese: 領(りょう) (ryō)
* → Korean: 영(領) (yeong), 령(領) (ryeong)
* → Vietnamese: lĩnh (領)

→ Indonesian: nia (“collar”)

→ Old Turkic: ling

Turkmen: lüň (mark for border)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *reŋʔ): phonetic 令 (OC *ren, *reŋ, *reŋs, *reːŋ, *reːŋs) + semantic 頁.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g/m-liŋ (“neck”) (STEDT, Schuessler 2007). Cognate with Tibetan མཇིང་པ (mjing pa, “neck”), Mizo ring (“neck”), Burmese လည် (lany, “neck”). Semantics: "neck, collar" > ("to take by the neck" > ) "to lead, to guide" (Schuessler 2007).


魁

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰuːl): phonetic 鬼 (OC *kulʔ) + semantic 斗 (“ladle”) – soup ladle.

Han compound

𫿶
𣁽
𩲔
𱆗
𩲙
𩳭
𩲅
𭔷
𰁩
𫣅
櫆


頷

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡɯːm, *ɡɯːmʔ): phonetic 含 (OC *ɡɯːm) + semantic 頁 (“head”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *gam (“jaw; chin; molar”) (STEDT).
Bodman (1980) considers it to be the endoactive of 含 (OC *ɡɯːm, “to hold in the mouth”), literally “the thing that holds something in the mouth”.

liushu

OC *ɡɯːm, *ɡɯːmʔ


離

→ Vietnamese: lìa

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *reːls, *rel, *rels): phonetic 离 (OC *rel, *r̥ʰel) + semantic 隹 (“bird”) – black-naped oriole (Oriolus chinensis). This sense is preserved in the compound 離黃.
Phonetically borrowed for the sense "to depart".
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g(r/l)aːj (“scatter, sow, dispersedly widely; wide; star”) (STEDT). See 侈 (OC *l̥ʰjalʔ, “extravagant”) for more.


陰

→ Proto-Tai: *rɤmᴮ (“shade”)

desc

Thai: ร่ม (rôm, “shade, umbrella, parachute”)

According to Shuowen, a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qrɯm): semantic 阜 + phonetic 侌 ().
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r(u/i)m (“dark; shade; dusk; twilight”); compare Tibetan རུམ (rum, “darkness”), Jingpho rim (“to be dusk”) (Benedict, 1972; Bodman, 1980; STEDT).
Schuessler (2007) compares it instead to Burmese အုံ့ (um., “to become overcast”), Adi mugyum (“shade; shadow”), Lepcha ᰠᰨᰌᰤᰪᰮ (so-dyŭm, “shade”).

cog

阴
侌
𠊺
𣍤
𤽎
阥
𨹉
隂
𨻔
𨼖
𨽙
𨽭
𨹩
𩃬
𣱙
𢉩
𠆭


騎

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡral, *ɡrals): semantic 馬 (“horse”) + phonetic 奇 (OC *kral, *ɡral) – to ride horseback
Wanderwort in the E/SE Asian Sprachbund. The STEDT reconstructs Proto-Sino-Tibetan *gi (“to ride; to sit astride; to sit (horse)”), and comments that "many of the TB forms seem to be borrowings from Chinese 騎".
Outside Sino-Tibetan, cognates are also found in Hmong-Mien, Tai-Kadai and some Mon-Khmer languages. Benedict (1975) surmises that this is an ancient loan into Proto-Sino-Tibetan from Austro-Tai:
... but these [Tibeto-Burman] forms appear to involve old loans from AT [Austro-Tai] with typical loss of an original medial *w (Thai *khwi ~ *gwi).
while Peiros (1998), Sagart (2006), Schuessler (2007) (who suggests that 騎 (OC gai, “to ride”) is possibly endopassive "let oneself be carried (on the back of an animal)" of 荷 (OC gâiʔ, “to carry”)) and Pittayaporn (2014) think the directionality of borrowing is reversed. The following excerpt is taken from Sagart's review (2006) of Matisoff's book Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman (2003):
The collection of forms under Matisoff's high-vowelled *gyi 'ride' are from TB languages in contact with Chinese (Lolo-Burmese, Qiangic, Tujia): they are best regarded as late loans from Chinese. ... The idea that the Chinese vocabulary of agriculture, metallurgy, horse-riding etc. might contain numerous loans from an early SEA language is simply not to be taken seriously in view of modern Asian archaeology (Bellwood 1997), quite apart from the fact that it makes no linguistic sense (Sagart 1999 for metal names). Yet Matisoff's book is scattered with observations telling the reader that words like 'writing brush' and 'ride' just discussed may well be loans from Austro-Tai into ST (188; 504).
Below lists some cognates for "to ride" found in various languages in this Sprachbund.
* Lolo-Burmese: *gyi ~ dzyi: Burmese စီး (ci:), Nuosu ꋩ (zzy, “to ride; to bear (a rider)”), ꊪ (zy, “to cause to ride”)
* Southwestern Tai: *kʰwiːᴮ: Thai ขี่ (kìi), Lao ຂີ່ (khī), Zhuang gwih
* Hmong-Mien: *ɟej: White Hmong caij
* Mon-Khmer: West Bahnaric *ɟih, Khmer ជិះ (cih), Vietnamese cưỡi
Also compare Proto-Austronesian *sakay (“catch a ride, join a group, ride on something”).
Pronunciation 2 is a Late Old Chinese general purpose derivation from Pronunciation 1 (Schuessler, 2007).

blockquote

... but these 􂀿Tibeto-Burman􂁀 forms appear to involve old loans from AT 􂀿Austro-Tai􂁀 with typical loss of an original medial *w (Thai *khwi ~ *gwi).