优缺点 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

yōu superior Simplified

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

Components

亻 Meaning component

rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

尤 Sound component

yóu especially

Sources

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

quē be short of, lack

Original meaning: damaged object

Phonosemantic compound. 缶 represents the meaning and 夬 represents the sound.

Components

缶 Meaning component

fǒu pottery

Change in meaning

缶 hints at the original meaning of 缺, "damaged object", which is no longer the most common meaning of 缺 in modern Mandarin.

夬 Sound component

guài, jué parted

Change in sound

缺 and 夬 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
缺 *Nə-[k]ʷʰˤet
夬 *[k]ʷˤret-s

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khwet	Nə-[k]ʷʰˤet	break; defective

說文解字

《說文》：“缺，器破也。从缶，決省聲。”

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)

diǎn dot Simplified

Simplified form of 點. Phonosemantic compound. 黑 represents the meaning and 占 represents the sound.

Components

占 Sound component

zhàn divine

Change in sound

点 and 占 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
点 *tˤemʔ
占 *tem

灬 Meaning Simplified component

biāo, huǒ fire

Simplified from the 黑 (black) component in the traditional character 點.

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

yōu superior Traditional

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

Components

亻 Meaning component

rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

憂 Sound component

yōu sad

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	'juw	ʔ(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)

diǎn dot Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 黑 represents the meaning and 占 represents the sound.

Components

黑 Meaning component

hēi black

占 Sound component

zhàn divine

Change in sound

點 and 占 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
點 *tˤemʔ
占 *tem

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	temX	tˤemʔ	black spot

說文解字

《說文》：“點，小黑也。从黑，占聲。”

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)

优 yōu superior Simplified

Components

Sources

缺 quē be short of, lack

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

点 diǎn dot Simplified

Components

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

優 yōu superior Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

點 diǎn dot Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

yōu superior Simplified

quē be short of, lack

diǎn dot Simplified

yōu superior Traditional

diǎn dot Traditional