刨根问底
páo​gēn​wèn​dǐ

investigate

刨 páo carpenter's plane

Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 包 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鑤.

Components

刂
刂 Meaning component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

包
包 Sound component
bāo wrap

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangbruː

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

根 gēn root

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 艮 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
艮
艮 Sound component
gěn, gèn, hén blunt

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkon[k]ˤə[r] root, trunk

說文解字

《說文》：“根，木株也。从木，艮聲。”

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)

问 wèn, wen ask (about) Simplified

Simplified form of 問. Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 门 represents the sound.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
门
门 Sound component
mén, men door

Sources

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

底 dǐ bottom

Phonosemantic compound. 广 represents the meaning and 氐 represents the sound.

Components

广
广 Meaning component
guǎng roof
氐
氐 SoundMeaning component
dī, dǐ, zhī bottom

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttejXtˤijʔ bottom; stop, obstruct

說文解字

《說文》：“底，山居也。一曰下也。从广，氐聲。”

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)

問 wèn, wen ask (about) Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 門 represents the sound.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
門
門 Sound component
mén, men door

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmjunHC.mu[n]-s ask

說文解字

《說文》：“問，訊也。从口，門聲。”

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)