偏向
piān​xiàng HSK7

deviation

偏 piān inclined one side

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

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

扁
扁 Sound component
biǎn flat

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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-Sagartphjienpʰe[n]oblique; subordinate
Zhengzhangpʰen
pʰens
Unicodepiɛn

說文解字

頗也。从人扁聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

向 xiàng toward

Depicts a mouth (口) in a closed space (宀) making an echo sound. Based on the original meaning "echo; sound", now written as 響. The meaning later shifted to "direction" and "toward".

Components

宀
宀 Iconic component
mián roof
口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 6 verified)

响晌饷垧餉嚮

Meaning (1)

嚮

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartxjangHn̥aŋ-s window facing North; turn towards

說文解字

《說文》：“向，北出牖也。从宀，从口。”

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)