优柔寡断
yōu​róu​guǎ​duàn

indecisive

优 yōu superior Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 尤 represents the sound. Simplified form of 優.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

尤
尤 Sound component
yóu especially

Sources

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

柔 róu soft, flexible

Phonosemantic compound. 矛 represents the sound and 木 represents the meaning.

Components

矛
矛 Sound component
máo spear
Change in sound
木
木 Meaning component
mù tree

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

揉蹂鞣糅猱

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

揉鞣

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnyuwnu soft

說文解字

《說文》：“柔，木曲直也。从木，矛聲。”

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)

寡 guǎ widowed, alone

Original meaning: live alone

Depicts a person living alone in a house (宀). The decorative strokes around the 頁 component corrupted into the unrelated 分.

Components

宀
宀 Iconic component
mián roof
頁
頁 Iconic component
yè (head), page

Used here to depict a person.

◎
◎ Unknown component
characterless component

Originally depicted decorative strokes around 頁. Modern form looks like unrelated 分.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkwaeX[C.k]ʷˤraʔ few

說文解字

《說文》：“寡，少也。从宀，从頒。頒，分賦也，故為少。”

Sources

Character origin
Wiktionary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)

断 duàn sever Simplified

Simplified form of 斷. Depicts cutting off threads (㡭) with an axe (斤)

Components

米
米 Simplified component
mǐ rice

Shorthand for the 㡭 component in the traditional character 斷.

斤
斤 Iconic component
jīn axe

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

簖

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica

優 yōu superior Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 憂 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

憂
憂 Sound component
yōu sad

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'juwʔ(r)u entertainer; liberal

說文解字

《說文》：“優，饒也。从人，憂聲。一曰倡也。”

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)

斷 duàn break, sever Traditional

Depicts cutting off threads (㡭) with an axe (斤)

Components

㡭
㡭 Iconic component
jì continue
斤
斤 Iconic component
jīn axe

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdwanXN-tˤo[n]ʔ be cut in two
twanXtˤo[n]ʔ cut in two
twanHtˤo[n]ʔ-s cut off; decide

說文解字

《說文》：“，截也。从斤，从。，古文絕。，古文从，，古文叀字。《周書》曰：‘猗無他技。’亦古文。”

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)