佐餐
zuǒ​cān

accompaniment

佐 zuǒ assist

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

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

左
左 Sound component
zuǒ left

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsaHtsˤarʔ-s (dialect: *-r > *-j)aid, assist

Sources

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

餐 cān eat

Phonosemantic compound. 食 represents the meaning and 𣦼 represents the sound.

Components

食
食 Meaning component
shí, shi eat
𣦼
𣦼 Sound component
cán to damage and pierce

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsʰaːn
Unicodetsɑn

說文解字

《說文》：“餐，吞也。从食，聲。湌，餐或从水。”

Sources

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