乏善可陈
fá​shàn​kě​chén

unremarkable

乏 fá lack

Original meaning: crooked

Derived from 正, but with the line on top slanted to indicate "crooked (i.e. not straight)". The meaning later shifted to "lack".

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

泛眨砭鴔

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

贬貶

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

窆

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjop[b](r)[o]p lack (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“乏，《春秋傳》曰：‘反正為乏。’”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.121
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

善 shàn good

Composed of two 言 (speech) components and 羊 (sheep). In ancient China sheep (羊) were associated with goodness and beauty, which is why 羊 is a component in characters like 美 (beautiful), 善 (benevolent), and 義 (justice).

Components

羊
羊 Meaning component
yáng sheep
言
言 Sound component
yán speech
Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 言 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 7 verified)

膳缮蟮鳝鄯繕鱔

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzyenX[g]e[n]ʔ good

說文解字

《說文》：“譱，吉也。从誩，从羊。此與義、美同意。，篆文从言。”

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)

可 kě able to

Original meaning: sing

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and a pictograph of an axe handle (丂) which is now written as 柯 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "sing", now written as 歌. The current meaning "able to" is a phonetic loan.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
Change in meaning
口 hints at the original meaning of 可, "sing", which is no longer the most common meaning of 可 in modern Mandarin.
丂
丂 SoundIconic component
kǎo, qiǎo, yú axe handle

Depicts an axe handle.

Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (6 of 20 verified)

何阿奇河哥呵柯苛珂诃轲坷舸岢疴哿蚵钶軻訶

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

珂

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhaX[k]ʰˤa[j]ʔ may; acceptable

說文解字

《說文》：“可，肎也。从口、丂，丂亦聲。”

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)

陈 chén exhibit, display Simplified

Simplified form of 陳. Composed of 阝 and 东. The purpose of 东 is unclear.

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

东
东 Unknown component
dōng east

The purpose of this component is unclear.

Sources

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

陳 chén exhibit, display Traditional

Composed of 阝 and 東. The purpose of 東 is unclear.

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

東
東 Unknown component
dōng east

The purpose of this component is unclear.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdrinlri[n] arrange
drinHlri[n]-s battle array

說文解字

《說文》：“陳，宛丘，舜後媯滿之所封。从，从木，申聲。，古文陳。”

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)