诗 shī — poetry, poem · English

诗

shī

poetry, poem

At a glance · 诗

Listen

Audio is synthesized in your browser: Mandarin for the character and Shuowen text, native voices for every translation. No downloads.

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、seal script form。No excavated oracle bone / seal artifact is attested for this character yet; we leave it blank rather than fabricate.

诗字小篆从言寺声，为形声字；本义为诗歌、文学体裁。甲骨文未见。

What the sketch shows

Origins & notes

诗本义为诗歌、韵文。

Structure

形声字，左部『言』为意符，右部『寺』为声符。

At a glance

Pinyinshī

Radical讠

Strokes8

UnicodeU+8BD7

Character type形声

Theme礼乐

Six languages, one character

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

English poetry, poem Shi is a phonetic-semantic character meaning poetry and poem.

Français poésie, poème Shi est un caractère phonético-sémantique signifiant poésie et poème.

Español poesía, poema Shi es un carácter fonosemántico que significa poesía y poema.

العربية شعر، قصيدة شي حرف صوتي دلالي يعني الشعر والقصيدة.

Русский поэзия, стихи Ши — фоносемантический знак, означающий поэзию и стихи.

Common words

诗歌shī gēpoetry
诗人shī rénpoet

◉ Listen