像差
xiàng​chā

aberration

像 xiàng resemble

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

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

象
象 Sound component
xiàng elephant

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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-SagartzjangXs.[d]aŋʔ image; resemble

說文解字

象也。从人从象，象亦聲。讀若養。

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)

差 chà, chā, chāi to differ

Original meaning: rub between fingers

Depicts grain (來) being rolled between the fingers in the left hand (左). Based on the original meaning "rub between fingers", now written as 搓. The meaning later shifted to "uneven" and "error".

Components

來
來 Iconic component
lái come

Depicts grain.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 來 than it was in ancient scripts.
左
左 SoundIconic component
zuǒ left
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

搓磋嗟槎蹉鹾嵯瘥

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

蹉

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsrhaetsʰraj distinction; to select
tsrhea[tsʰ]raj distinction; to select
tsrheaj[tsʰ](ˤ)raj distinction; to select
tsrhjetsʰraj 參差 uneven
tsha[tsʰ]ˤaj rub, polish, file (v.)

說文解字

貳也。差不相值也。从左从𠂹。

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)