海 hǎi — sea, ocean · English

海

hǎi

sea, ocean

At a glance · 海

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Evolution of the glyph

Five stages, from a sketch of the real object to regular script — tap a stage, drag the timeline, or play the animation.

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seen
Oracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCE
Seal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCE
Clerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CE
Regular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seenOracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCESeal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCEClerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CERegular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

⚠ Some ancient forms are not attested：oracle bone form。No excavated oracle bone / seal artifact is attested for this character yet; we leave it blank rather than fabricate.

海字小篆从水每声，为形声字；本义为大海。甲骨文未见。

What the sketch shows

Origins & notes

海本义为海洋、大海。

Structure

形声字，左部『水』为意符，右部『每』为声符。

At a glance

Pinyinhǎi

Radical氵

Strokes10

UnicodeU+6D77

Character type形声

Theme地理

Six languages, one character

Each page offers hreflang versions; switching language keeps the glyphs and meanings aligned.

English sea, ocean Hai is a phonetic-semantic character meaning the sea and ocean.

Français mer, océan Hai est un caractère phonético-sémantique signifiant la mer et l'océan.

Español mar, océano Hai es un carácter fonosemántico que significa mar y océano.

العربية بحر، محيط هاي حرف صوتي دلالي يعني البحر والمحيط.

Русский море, океан Хай — фоносемантический знак, означающий море и океан.

Common words

大海dà hǎisea
海洋hǎi yángocean

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