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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

位

wèi
position; location; spot
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 2
  • TOCFL 1
  • radical 人
  • 7 strokes

Etymology graph

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  • derived
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Origin

「位」字由意符「人」與聲符「立」構成。根據語言學研究，此字繼承自原始漢藏語 *kV-r(j)əp「站立」的意思，並由「立」（上古音 *rɯb）衍生而來。Mei (2012) 將其列為可能的鼻音前綴動詞形式（上古音 *N-k- > 中古音 *ɦ-），可能形成一種靜態描述；若加上名詞化後綴 *-s，則產生了「一個人所處的場所、等級或地位」之意。

在字義方面，「位」包含了所在的地方、官職、等級，以及處於某處的意思。其最早的文字紀錄見於青銅器、楚簡、篆書與楷書。除了指稱位置、地點、職位或座位外，也可用於指稱王座等尊貴的座席。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • inheritedProto-Sino-Tibetan*kV-r(j)əp “to stand”
  • meaningChinese人 “man; person; people (Classifier: 個／个 m c; 隻／只 h)”
  • soundChinese立 “to stand”

Words built on it: 各位, 座位, 地位, 位置

Wiktionary etymology text

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ɢʷrɯbs): semantic 人 (“man”) + phonetic 立 (OC *rɯb, “stand”). Often simply written as 立 in idiomatic expressions such as 即位 (jíwèi) in Western Zhou inscriptions.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kV-r(j)əp (“to stand”). Derived from 立 (OC *rɯb). Mei (2012) lists it among the possible nasal-prefixed verb forms (Old Chinese *N-k- > Middle Chinese *ɦ-, possibly forming a stative). Suffixed with a nominalizing *-s, it takes the sense "the place/rank/status one holds".

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

character
  1. position; location; spot
  2. title; official position
  3. seat; seating
  4. throne; royal seat
  5. rank; grade; status
  6. standard; rule

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

位：列中庭之左右謂之位。从人、立。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 所在的地方。 例：方位、座位
  2. 官職。 例：不在其位，不謀其政。（《論語．泰伯》）
  3. 等級。 例：爵位、體位
  4. 處、在。 例：中國位於亞洲的東南方。
  5. 量詞。計算人數的單位。多含敬意。 例：十位客人、五位老師

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 位 was written 字形演變

  1. 位 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  2. 位 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  3. 位 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  4. 位 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 位