源etymfun
About

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

基

jī
foot of a wall; foundation
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 3
  • radical 土
  • 11 strokes
  • gay

Etymology graph

  • inherited
  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
  • related
React Flow
Press enter or space to select a node. You can then use the arrow keys to move the node around. Press delete to remove it and escape to cancel.
Press enter or space to select an edge. You can then press delete to remove it or escape to cancel.

點擊節點放大 · Click a node to zoom in

Origin

Etymology 1

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *kɯ): phonetic 其 (OC *kɯ, *ɡɯ) + semantic 土 (“earth”) – a foundation of earth.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English gay, via Cantonese. Doublet of 給 /给 and gay.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • soundChinese其 “his; her; its; their”
  • meaningChinese土 “earth; soil”
  • borrowedEnglishgay “Only possessing sexual and/or romantic attraction towards people one perceives to be the same sex o…”
    • inheritedMiddle Englishgay
      • borrowedOld Frenchgai “gay, merry”
    • derivedEnglishPitman “A surname.”
      • derivedEnglishgraphically “In a graphic manner”

Related: Chinese 給 (doublet), Chinese gay (doublet)

Words built on it: 基本, 基本上, 基金, 基地, 基督教

Meanings

character
  1. foot of a wall; foundation
  2. base of any building; foundations; basis
  3. basis; foundation; base
  4. to lay a foundation
  5. cardinal; basic; capital; fundamental
  6. radical; group

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

基：牆始也。从土其聲。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 建築物的底部。 例：牆基、地基、路基
  2. 事物的根本。 例：根基
  3. 根本的。 例：基數、基層、基金
  4. 根據。 例：基於朋友之義，我再次幫忙。
  5. 化學上指化合物分子中所含的一部分原子被視為一個單位時，稱為「基」。 例：氫基

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

How 基 was written 字形演變

  1. 基 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 基 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 基 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 基 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  5. 基 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

  • 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: 基