shān​jiǎn​yā​suō

abridged

shān to cut Simplified

To cut  out passages from a book 

Components

Meaning component
book
Meaning component
dāo knife

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsraːn
Unicodeshran

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

jiǎn simple Simplified

Original meaning: bamboo strips for writing

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and represents the sound. The character is based on the original meaning "bamboo strips for writing". The meaning later shifted to "letter", "concise", and "simple".

Components

Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of .

Sound component
jiān, jian, jiàn space

Sources

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

press, push down Simplified

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
earth
yàn dislike

Sources

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

suō contract Simplified

Components

Meaning component
silk

thread

宿
宿 Sound component
sù, xiǔ lodge, sleep overnight

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

to cut Traditional

To cut  out passages from a book 

Components

Meaning component
book
Meaning component
dāo knife

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangsraːn

說文解字

剟也。从刀、冊。冊,書也。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

jiǎn simple Traditional

Original meaning: bamboo strips for writing

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and represents the sound. The character is based on the original meaning "bamboo strips for writing". The meaning later shifted to "letter", "concise", and "simple".

Components

Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of .

Sound component
jiān, jian, jiàn space

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkeanXkˤre[n]ʔ bamboo slip for writing
keanXkˤre[n]ʔ select, large-minded, etc.

說文解字

《說文》:“簡,牒也。从竹,間聲。”

Sources

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

press, push down Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

SoundMeaning component
yàn dislike
Meaning component
earth

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Xin 9-23 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'aepʔˤrep press down

說文解字

《說文》:“壓,壞也。一曰塞補。从土,厭聲。”

Sources

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

suō contract Traditional

Components

Meaning component
silk

thread

宿
宿 Sound component
sù, xiǔ lodge, sleep overnight

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsrjuwk[s]rukshrink
Zhengzhangsruɡ
Unicodeshriuk

說文解字

亂也。从糸宿聲。一曰蹴也。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica