再怎么
zài​zěn​me

no matter how

再 zài again

Depicts catching two (二) fish at once, conveying the meaning "again". The fish component is similar to the bottom half of 冓.

Components

二
二 Meaning component
èr two
◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a fish. Similar to 冓.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsojH[ts]ˤə(ʔ)-s twice; a second time

說文解字

《說文》：“再，一舉而二也。从冓省。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.315-316Wiktionary
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

怎 zěn what? why? how?

Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 乍 represents the sound.

Components

心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart
乍
乍 Sound component
zhà, zuò suddenly
Change in sound

Sources

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

么 me [question particle] Simplified

Variant form of 幺, which is a pictograph of a twisted thread.

Component uses

Meaning (1)

麽

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

仫

Historical Pronunciations

Middle Chinese
Unicodeqeu

Sources

Character origin
黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.416
Readings & variants
Unicode

麼 me interrogative particle Traditional

Original meaning: thin

Phonosemantic compound. 幺 represents the meaning and 麻 represents the sound.

Components

幺
幺 Meaning component
yāo tiny
麻
麻 Sound component
má, ma hemp

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangmaːlʔ

說文解字

《說文》：“麼，細也，从幺麻聲。”

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)