严词
yán​cí

strong words

严 yán strict Simplified

Simplified form of 嚴. Phonosemantic compound. 喦 represents the meaning and 敢 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "exaggerate". The meaning later shifted to "extreme", "severe", and "strict". The traditional component 敢 was removed for simplification.

Components

喦
喦 MeaningSimplified component
niè, yì talkative
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 喦 than it was in ancient scripts.
嚴
敢 Deleted component
gǎn to dare

The traditional component 敢 was removed for simplification.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

俨酽

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

酽

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

词 cí words Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 讠 represents the meaning and 司 represents the sound. Simplified form of 詞.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

司
司 Sound component
sī take charge of

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

嚴 yán strict Traditional

Original meaning: exaggerate

Phonosemantic compound. 喦 represents the meaning and 敢 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "exaggerate". The meaning later shifted to "extreme", "severe", and "strict".

Components

喦
喦 Meaning component
niè, yì talkative
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 喦 than it was in ancient scripts.
敢
敢 Sound component
gǎn to dare

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

儼巖

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngjaemŋ(r)am stern, majestic

說文解字

《說文》：“嚴，教命急也。从吅，聲。，古文。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

詞 cí words Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 司 represents the sound.

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
司
司 Sound component
sī take charge of

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartzisə.lə utterance

說文解字

《說文》：“詞，意內而言外也。从司，从言。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)