工, a pictographic character of a carpenter’s square or a bladed tool, serves as a semantic as well as a phonetic component to form character. Continue reading “工 carpenter’s square”
Category: Pictograms
辰 a hoe
辰, a pictographic character resembling a hoe held by a hand, serves mainly as a phonetic component to form characters. 辰 also serves as a semantic component to express meanings related to farm work. Another version for the origin of辰 is that it resembled a farming tool made of seashells. Continue reading “辰 a hoe”
斗 a wine ladle
斗, a pictographic character of a wine ladle, serves as a semantic as well as a phonetic component to form characters. Continue reading “斗 a wine ladle”
午 a pestle
午, a pictographic character resembling a pestle for grinding rice, now represented by 杵, serves as a phonetic component. Continue reading “午 a pestle”
米 rice
米, a pictographic character of rice, serves as a semantic component to express meanings related to rice, grain, food, etc, e.g. 类/類, 粒, 糟, 粕, 糕, 粳, 粉, 粮/糧 and so forth. 米 also serves as a phonetic component to form characters. Continue reading “米 rice”