tiān
sky
Original meaning:
head
Depicts a person (大) with an emphasized head. Based on the original meaning "head". The meaning later shifted to "top", "high", and "sky".
Components
Evolution

Oracle script
(~1250-1000 BC)
Bronze script
Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)
Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical script
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)Regular script
ModernDefinitions
Component uses
Iconic component in 1 character (1 verified)
Historical pronunciation
Old Chinese | Middle Chinese | Pinyin | Gloss |
*l̥ˤi[n] | then | tiān | heaven |
*l̥ˤi[n] (W dialect: l̥ˤ- > Hàn-time *xˤ- > MC x-) | xen | xiān | heaven |
Statistics
HSK level 1
Appears in 99.8558% of movies
63rd most common character in movies
78th most common character in books
Miscellaneous
Strokes | 4 |
Unicode | U+5929 |
Shuowen | “天,顛也。至高无上,从一、大。” |
Sources
季旭昇《說文新證》p.40-41
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