Questions tagged [glyph-origin]
Questions about the graphical origin and evolution of characters. Use [etymology] for the origin and history of Chinese words.
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Glyph origin or any mnemonic for 蕴?
I failed to remember the meaning for the word 蕴含 yùnhán. Is any mnemonic or story or etymological hints to remember 蕴?
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Is there any mnemonic to remember 支 and 技?
I am using Flashcards to remember vocabulary, but could not remember the meanings for these 2 words. If you have any easy mnemonic, image or story, please advise. thanks
支 zhī disperse, pay, support,...
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不自量力 can this be used to under estimate one’s capabilities also?
I understand the meaning of 量 is measure, estimate. But how the capacity also was the meaning? any background, etymology?
量 liàng measure, estimate, capacity, quantity
不自量力 bùzìliànglì not have a ...
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378 views
In “一网打尽” what does 尽 mean?
一网打尽 yīwǎngdǎjìn lit. to catch everything in the one net.
In this sentence what does 尽 means? how to easily remember the meaning by seeing the character without wild guess and imagining etymological ...
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1answer
66 views
etymology of 友, 犮
I am confused at these two characters some times. Could you please let me know etymology of these 2 characters? and advise any further analysis. Thanks
友 yǒu friend
犮 bá to pull up
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Radical 163 Vs 170
What are the differences between these two radicals? What is etymology? Both represent same character or different?
⻖yì mound, abundant R170
⻏ fú city R163
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1answer
61 views
What is the meaning of 放 fàng in this idiom?
The meaning of 放 fàng from dictionary is “put, release”.
“Put or place” is an entirely opposite word / antonym of “release, free, liberate”
Then what does 放 mean in the following idiom:
放在心上 ...
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2answers
334 views
How does 稱's 2021 meanings appertain to its semantic component 禾?
CUHK doesn't expound the semantic shift from 禾. I underlined definition 4 below in green, because I know that rice and grains may need to be weighed. But I don't understand how definition 4 relates ...
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Any hypothesis to remember 刑?
Any easy way or background why
Well + knife is Punishment? Knife is related punishment, but after killing with knife any history to through them in the well?
wikitionary details about 刑:
Originally ...
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2answers
110 views
Glyph origin of the character for frequency 频/頻 = steps + head?
What's the story behind this character 频? Neither of its components contribute phonetically to it, yet I can't seem to relate any of its components 步 steps and head/face 页 to its meaning of frequent/...
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Why west and wine vessel/10 th terrestrial branch are similar?
西 xī west
酉 yǒu a wine vessel, 10 th terrestrial branch
Which word is first invented? Why these 2 are similar with a small line as an addition? Thanks
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what exact image is the basis for the 圭?
The Hanzi meaning for 圭 guī = (old) jade tablet (a ceremonial badge of rank)
I checked the images, not sure based on what jade tablet 圭 is drawn, can any one point to the correct image? Thanks
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2answers
167 views
Etymology of 策, 朿
What is the etymology of 策 and 朿 ?
As per dictionary the meanings are as below:
朿 cì stab
策 cè policy, plan, scheme, bamboo slip for writing(old), to whip (a horse), to encourage, upward horizontal ...
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1answer
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What is the etymology of 斥
Learning the word 斥 chì to blame,to reprimand, to expel, (of territory) to expand. What is the etymology and how it is to blame?
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1answer
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Glyph origin of 盗
What's the story behind this character 盗? None of the components seems to hint at the sound, or the meaning of 'pirate/steal/rob', unless water in the upper left part and is the bottom component a ...
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1answer
123 views
Why 独 〔獨〕 dú is alone?
I am learning the word 独 dú alone.
Dog plus Insect become alone? Any ancient history or story behind this?
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1answer
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Do 形声 words have an approximate or historical phonetic part?
There are many examples of 形声 compounds that have a phonetic component that does not match the pronunciation of the word. Some examples are the 鬼 in 愧, the 其 in 基, or the 白 in 泊. Are these ...
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623 views
What is this glyph image for 父 representing?
I am trying to visualise this image for 父. What exactly is this image ?
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371 views
Why 怕 is afraid or fear?
Learning this word 怕 which is heart and bright. It means bright and blemishless heart like Brave Heart. Why this is fear heart?
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1answer
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Glyph origin of 录. Is the original form 禄, 録, or 剥?
Did 录 or 彔 look like some wooden object being carved? Was it originally a knife chipping something which became 録 as in recording events on a wooden object? It also seems to resemble a knife stripping ...
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1answer
188 views
Glyph origin of 邊/边
What's the story behind this character 邊? This seems to be another "phonetic-semantic" explanation on this character with 辵 as the semantic and 臱 as the phonetic.
But what exactly is 臱? I ...
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Is there a reason why 午 and 年 look so similar?
These words don't have meanings that are similar, but why do they look nearly identical? Is it just a coincidence?
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1answer
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Is there any sun 日 in 昌?
I've been seeing conflicting explanations for this character 昌. Some sources say it comprised of two suns 日, some sources say it comprises of sun and speak 日 meaning flourish, though I don't really ...
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1answer
390 views
How did 漢 come to represent the Han people and civilization?
It appears that this character consists of a meaning part and a sound part: a water radical (i.e. section header for water in Kangxi dictionary) for meaning, and the character 𦰩 for sound.
Radical - ...
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1answer
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How Did 是 Come to Mean “To Be”?
I have been looking into the etymology of the character 是.
The site Chinese Etymology notes that this character was: "originally meaning straight or correct. The sun 旦 rises or 早 in the correct 正 ...
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4answers
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Glyph origin of 款
Where does this character 款 come from? Its meanings (model/style or fee/payment) doesn't seem to have any link to the semantic part 欠, unless it specifically refers to owed money/payment?
And what ...
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1answer
193 views
How did 閒 end up becoming 閑 and 間?
I can understand the link between 閒 and 間/间, being the empty spaces where moonlight or sunlight can shine through the doors --> empty space.
But how did this 閒 also end up becoming similar to 閑/闲? ...
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1answer
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𦰩 and 難 glyph origins. Did 难/難 used to be a bird?
Apologies if my question is too similar to the one in
Why is the radical of 难 > 隹 and not 又?
The link in there is broken unfortunately and I am unable to find the source.
This character for ...
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2answers
199 views
Glyph origins of the character 微
How does this character meaning become "small/tiny"?
So many sources tell me that it's semantic 彳 + "phonetic" 𢼸, but what exactly is 𢼸? I've never seen this character elsewhere ...
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2answers
895 views
What does rain 雨 have to do with mold 霉 and bad luck?
Almost all the other characters with the 雨 component have relation to rain, clouds, and weather. However, this character 霉 seems to be the exception. It means mold, but the rain semantic seems very ...
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3answers
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校 - How did “leg-brace” come to mean “school”?
When learning Chinese characters using radicals, this character 校 always seem to puzzle me. I've always known 校 to be school, but the "wood" radical never made any sense to me. What does ...
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Isn't it ironic that 淡 uses 炎, duplication of 火, as its phonetic component?
Does the phonetic component for 淡 bemuse anyone else? Why not develop or embrace some other phonetic component that isn't semantically antonymous to 淡? Doubtless, water ( 氵) is 淡, but 火, let alone ...
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1answer
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How does 舟 resemble a boat?
I don't wholly fathom this progression chart.
I ticked, in green below, the only glyph that resembles anything like a boat, but that "Bronze Script" doesn't resemble 舟.
Doubtless, boats ...
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1answer
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Glyph origin of 「凉」 and its relation with 「涼」
「涼」 and 「凉」 are thought to have different origins, and are different characters altogether. From 《洪武正韻牋》:
本有凉涼二字，从冫者寒凉之凉，从氵涼德涼踽之涼。
Both these characters can be used for the meaning cold, but that ...
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2answers
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How was 言 created by adding one mark to 舌?
To create 言 - Wiktionary, mustn't you add more than one mark to 舌? Sorry for not being able to visualize abstractly!
Ideogram (指事): 言 was created by adding a mark to 舌 to indicate movement of the ...
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2answers
431 views
Why is the traditional character for 你 also 你 and not 儞 when the traditional character for 尔 is 爾?
I found an interesting question posted on Reddit's /r/ChineseLanguage: If 你 is 亻（人） ＋ 尔 , but 尔’s tradicional version is 爾 , shouldn’t 你’s traditional version be 儞 ?? I don't know the answer so I ...
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Relation between「帳」and「賬」
「賬」is said to be a derivative character (分化字) of「帳」, itself being a derivative character of「張」. The meaning of「帳」is related to tents, screens, or curtains:
《玉篇》帷也，張也，幬也。
「賬」has meanings relating to ...
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Characters' original forms that have no independent usage
I came across this entry for 囗 in 季旭昇's《說文新證》:
釋義：城邑。圍的初文。《說文》釋爲「回也」，不可從。
釋形：古文字未見單獨出現的囗字，但在偏旁中多見，學者都釋爲城邑的象形，可從。《說文》釋爲「象回帀之形」，不可從。
He mentions that 囗 is the original form of 圍, but 囗 was never seen ...
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1answer
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Glyph origin of 滅
The original meaning of 滅 is often said to be to extinguish a fire.
《易·大過》過涉滅頂。又火熄也。
And if the original form of 滅 is 烕, then the reason 水 was added to 烕 seems fairly straightforward. To me, the ...
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What semantic notions underlie 妥 (suitable') with 爫 (爪 or claw) and 女?
Reading 穩妥's etymology spurred me to read 妥's. I screenshot Yellowbridge. I truly hope this etymology doesn't relate to the inhumane barbarism of foot binding in China!
Translingual
Han character
妥 (...
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1answer
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What semantic notions underlie 吳 (shouting) with 夨 (man with tilted head)?
Reading 誤's etymology spurred me to read 吳's etymology. Shouting doesn't require you to tilt your head, so why was 夨 used? Why not just use 人?
Glyph origin
Ideogrammic compound (會意): 口 (“...
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1answer
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How does 殳 resemble a hand holding a tool?
After reading the etymology of 設, I read that of one of the underlying ideograms: 殳.
Pictogram (象形) or Ideogrammic compound (會意): 几 + 又 – a hand holding a tool, hence activity.
How does 几 resemble ...
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1answer
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What semantic notions underlie 駁 (to rebut) with 馬 (horses) and/or 爻 (I Ching's hexagrams)?
I'm trying to understand the etymology for definition 3 (to rebut) below in 駁 - Wiktionary. Yellowbridge:
Han character
駁 (radical 187, 馬+4, 14 strokes, cangjie input 尸火大大 (SFKK), four-corner 74340, ...
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What semantic notions underlie 頁 ('page') with '預' ('beforehand')?
I'm especially baffled because 'page' is physical, but 'beforehand' isn't physical. I screenshot Yellowbridge
and quote 預 - Wiktionary.
Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *las): phonetic 予 (OC *la, *...
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2answers
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What semantic notions underlie 心 ('heart') with 惑 ('to confuse')?
I know that managing your emotions can save your heart, and "when your emotions adversely affect your brain, your heart is affected as well." Yet how does 心 semantically relate to 惑? Many ...
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What does 尔 really mean?
That character is the right part of 你 nu, which means you.
According to https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%B0%94 it means you. It reads er
According to http://zhongwen.com/bushou.htm I saw this
So ...
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1answer
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How does the hook in 甩 negative 用's meaning?
I read 甩 - Wiktionary, and screenshot Yellowbridge. 甩 appears the antonym of 用, and the hook (that I marked with the green arrow) appears the only difference between their logograms.
What's the ...
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2answers
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Is there any connection between the choice of characters for 九 and 丸?
I just learned the character 丸 and naturally noticed that it is similar to 九 with the additional 点.
Is there any interesting connection between these two characters or is it just a random coincidence ...
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2answers
295 views
What function does the「𠂉」-shaped component have in characters like「𥏻」and「傷」?
戰國文字有從「人」和「昜」而成的「傷」字，但現代標準楷體的「傷」字與其結構有所不同；它含有一個「𠂉」形的部件。「傷」被釋爲從「人」，「𥏻」省聲的字（與說文解字的解釋一樣）：
《說文》：「創也。从人，𥏻省聲。」
煕康字典卻有以下的條目：
《康熙字典》：【說文】同𥏫。
若「𥏻」與「𥏫」有異體關係，那「𠂉」在「𥏻」、「傷」、「殤」、「觴」等字當中有何職能？
