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| Traditional | 沉 |
|---|---|
| Simplified | 沉 |
| Japanese | 沈 |
| Korean | 沈 |
沈 (Kangxi radical 85,水+4, 7 strokes,cangjie input水中月山 (ELBU),four-corner34112,composition⿰氵冘)
| Historical forms of the character沈 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shang | Western Zhou | Warring States | Shuowen Jiezi (compiled inHan) | Liushutong (compiled inMing) |
| Oracle bone script | Bronze inscriptions | Chu slip and silk script | Small seal script | Transcribed ancient scripts |
 |  |  |  |  |
In the oracle bone script, it was an ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 水(“water”) + 羊(“sheep”) — to submerge a sheep into the water (as a form of sacrifice to the river god). Other forms included牛 (“ox”) or玉 (“jade”) instead of羊.
Starting from the bronze inscriptions, it became aphono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声,OC*l'um, *l'ums, *hljumʔ): semantic 水(“water”) + phonetic 冘(OC*lu, *lum).
This character was later borrowed to signify the surname, and the variant沉 (OC*l'um) was adopted for the original meaning.
| For pronunciation and definitions of沈 – see瀋 (“liquid;juice; topour; etc.”). (This character is the simplified form of瀋). |
Notes:
|
| simp. andtrad. | 沈 | |
|---|---|---|
| alternative forms | 沉 | |
| Rime | ||
|---|---|---|
| Character | 沈 | 沈 |
| Reading # | 1/3 | 3/3 |
| Initial (聲) | 澄 (11) | 澄 (11) |
| Final (韻) | 侵 (140) | 侵 (140) |
| Tone (調) | Level (Ø) | Departing (H) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Open |
| Division (等) | III | III |
| Fanqie | 直深切 | 直禁切 |
| Baxter | drim | drimH |
| Reconstructions | ||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /ɖˠiɪm/ | /ɖˠiɪmH/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /ɖᵚim/ | /ɖᵚimH/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /ȡiem/ | /ȡiemH/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /ɖjim/ | /ɖjimH/ |
| Li Rong | /ȡjəm/ | /ȡjəmH/ |
| Wang Li | /ȡĭĕm/ | /ȡĭĕmH/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /ȡʱi̯əm/ | /ȡʱi̯əmH/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | chén | zhèn |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | cam4 | zam6 |
| Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character | 沈 | 沈 | 沈 | 沈 |
| Reading # | 1/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | chén | chén | chén | chén |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ drim › | ‹ drim › | ‹ drim › | ‹ drimH › |
| Old Chinese | /*C.[d]r[ə]m/ (~ *m-lr[ə]m) | /*[d]r[ə]m/ (~ *m-lr[ə]m) | /*[d]r[ə]m/ | /*[d]r[ə]m-s/ |
| English | sink (v.t.) | sink (v.i.) | sacrifice in which gifts are sunk in water | sacrifice in which gifts are sunk in water |
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; | ||||
| Zhengzhang system (2003) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Character | 沈 | 沈 |
| Reading # | 1/3 | 2/3 |
| No. | 15255 | 15261 |
| Phonetic component | 冘 | 冘 |
| Rime group | 侵 | 侵 |
| Rime subdivision | 3 | 3 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 沈 | 鴆 |
| Old Chinese | /*l'um/ | /*l'ums/ |
| Notes | 周國名 | |
沈
| simp. andtrad. | 沈 | |
|---|---|---|
| Rime | |
|---|---|
| Character | 沈 |
| Reading # | 2/3 |
| Initial (聲) | 書 (26) |
| Final (韻) | 侵 (139) |
| Tone (調) | Rising (X) |
| Openness (開合) | Open |
| Division (等) | III |
| Fanqie | 式任切 |
| Baxter | syimX |
| Reconstructions | |
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /ɕiɪmX/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /ɕimX/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /ɕjemX/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /ɕimX/ |
| Li Rong | /ɕiəmX/ |
| Wang Li | /ɕĭĕmX/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /ɕi̯əmX/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | shěn |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | sam2 |
| Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) | |
|---|---|
| Character | 沈 |
| Reading # | 5/5 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | shěn |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ syimX › |
| Old Chinese | /*[s.t][ə]mʔ/ |
| English | (name of a state) |
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; | |
| Zhengzhang system (2003) | |
|---|---|
| Character | 沈 |
| Reading # | 3/3 |
| No. | 15267 |
| Phonetic component | 冘 |
| Rime group | 侵 |
| Rime subdivision | 3 |
| Corresponding MC rime | |
| Old Chinese | /*hljumʔ/ |
| Notes | 周國名，荏由任校改同集韻 |
沈
| simp. andtrad. | 沈 | |
|---|---|---|
沈
FromMiddle Chinese沈 (MC drim).
FromMiddle Chinese沈 (MC syimX).
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