fēn​cun HSK7

propriety

fēn, fèn, fen divide

Depicts a knife () being used to cut two things apart ().

Components

SoundIconic component
eight

Depicts two things being separated.

Change in sound
Iconic component
dāo knife

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (6 of 23 verified)

Meaning (0 of 6 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjunpə[n] divide
bjunH[m]-pə[n]-s alloted duty

說文解字

《說文》:“分,別也。从八,从刀,刀以分別物也。”

Sources

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

cùn, cun (hand), inch

Original meaning: pulse point on wrist

Pictograph of a hand with a line marking a spot on the wrist. In traditional Chinese medicine this spot on the wrist where the pulse can be taken is called the 寸口.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 7 verified)

Meaning (5 of 6 verified)

Simplified (4)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttshwonH[tsʰ]ˤu[n]-s thumb; inch

說文解字

《說文》:“寸,十分也。人手卻一寸動,謂之寸口。从又,从一。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.233-234
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica