美轮美奂 [měi lún měi huàn] magnificent, sumptuous, originally used to describe constructions/buildings, is also used to describe the fine effect of sculpture or architecture. Attention: 美仑美奂 is wrong. Continue reading “美轮美奂 or 美仑美奂”
凡 a plate
凡, a pictographic character. There are several versions as to the original meaning of this character, among which is the version that 凡 originally reprensented a plate. 凡 serves as a phonetic component to form characters. Continue reading “凡 a plate”
食 a food utensil
食, a compound ideograph resembling an ancient food utensil, serves as a semantic component to form characters such as 饥, 饿, 饭, 饮, 饲, 饼, 饺, 餐, 餍, 飨 and so on. Continue reading “食 a food utensil”
爿 the other half of a piece of chopped wood
爿, a pictographic character of the other half of a piece of chopped wood, serve as a semantic component to form characters. When 爿 serves as a semantic component, it expresses meanings related to wood such as 牃 dié, 牁 kē, etc. Continue reading “爿 the other half of a piece of chopped wood”
片 half of a piece of chopped wood
片, a pictographic character of half of a piece of chopped wood, serves as a semantic component to form characters. The other half of a piece of the chopped wood is 爿. Continue reading “片 half of a piece of chopped wood”