Characters 9

日 rì : sun, day (date)

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Graphic components: 日 is a graphic component.
Etymology : 日 rì is an archaic pictogram representing the sun. Originally, it depicted a solar disk with a central dot ⊙, evolving toward a square shape with a horizontal bar for reasons of legibility and stylization. This character symbolizes both the sun and the notion of the day, the foundation of the temporal cycles in Chinese culture.

天 tiān : day (duration), sky

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Graphic components: 一 one; 大 big.
Etymology : 天 tiān is an ancient pictogram depicting a person standing under a vast sky, symbolizing the immensity of the heavens. Originally, the character showed a stylized human head (大, “big”) topped by a horizontal stroke (一), evoking the celestial vault. Today it means the sky, the day (duration), or abstract concepts such as the divine (e.g. 天意, “heavenly will”) and nature (e.g. 天然, “natural”).

年 nián : year

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Graphic components: 年 is a graphic component.
Etymology : 年 nián is an ancient pictogram depicting a person carrying a sheaf of grain, symbolizing the annual harvest. This character combines the idea of the agricultural cycle with that of time, today meaning the year.

今 jīn : (present, current)

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Graphic components: 人 human; 一 one (graphic variant).
Etymology : 今 jīn is an ancient pictogram originally depicting a lid or symbolic closure, evolving toward the idea of the present (what “covers” the past).

号 hào : number, day of the month (spoken)

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Graphic components: 口 mouth; 丂 to exhale.
Etymology : The traditional character 號 hào is composed of the tiger 虎 hǔ, the mouth 口 and the phonetic component 丂 kǎo. It originally represented a powerful roar, evoking the tiger’s cry. The modern simplified form 号 keeps only the left part of the character, removing the tiger component. By semantic extension, it developed the meanings of “number”, “name” and “distinctive sign”.

半 bàn : half

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Graphic components: 八 eight; 牛 ox.
Etymology : 半 bàn is a character composed of 八 (bā, “eight”, symbolizing division) and of 牛 (niú, “ox”). It originally represents the action of dividing an ox into two equal parts, hence the meaning of half.

时 shí : (time, moment)

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Graphic components: 日 sun; 寸 inch.
Etymology : 时 shí is the simplified form of 時, composed of 日 rì “sun” and of 寺 sì “temple”, which is the phonetic component. Originally, 時 symbolized the seasons or solar cycles. The simplified version 时 replaces 寺 with 寸 cùn “inch” (in the sense of measurement), keeping the idea of measured time.

候 hòu : (period, moment, to wait)

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Graphic components: 亻 human; 矢 arrow.
Etymology : 候 hòu is a character composed of 亻 (rén, “person”) and of 侯 (hóu, “marquis”). It originally symbolized a hunt from ambush 侯, evolving toward the meaning “to wait” then “moment”.

在 zài : to be at, to be located at

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Graphic components: 才 cái talent; 土 earth.
Etymology : 在 zài is a character composed of 土 tǔ (earth) at the bottom and of 才 cái (talent) at the top. Originally, 才 symbolized a young sprout emerging from the ground, combined with 土 to evoke presence or existence in a concrete place. This character evolved to express location (“to be at”) and state (“to exist”), reflecting the link between the nourishing earth and the notion of permanence.

看 kàn : to see, to look

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Graphic components: 手 hand; 目 eye.
Etymology : 看 kàn is an ideogram composed of 手 shǒu “hand”, above 目 mù “eye”, symbolizing a hand shielding the eyes to look into the distance.

读 dú : to read, to study

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Graphic components: 讠 speech; 卖 to sell.
Etymology : 读 dú (simplified form of 讀) is composed of 讠 yán (speech, simplified form of 言) and of 卖 mài (to sell). Originally, it represented the act of reading aloud as when selling at the market.

去 qù : to go, to leave

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Graphic components: 土 earth; 厶 private.
Etymology : 去 qù is an ideogram originally depicting a person leaving their dwelling, symbolizing the idea of departing or leaving.

来 lái : to come

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Graphic components: 来 is a graphic component.
Etymology : 来 lái is a phonetic loan of a pictogram originally depicting an ear of wheat or a tree with fruit. The traditional character 來 clearly shows this plant form. It was borrowed for the meaning of “to come” because of its pronunciation.

回 huí : to return, to come back

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Graphic components: 囗 enclosure; 口 mouth.
Etymology : 回 huí is an ancient pictogram depicting a spiral or circular movement, symbolizing the idea of return, of repetition. The two nested squares visually evoke this rotating or back-and-forth movement.