Kǎ'ēn

Kahn

stuck

Origin unclear, but typically explained as being stuck between something above () and something below (). The uses of to mean "card" or "calorie" are foreign phonetic loans.

Components

Iconic component
shàng, shang up
Iconic component
xià, xia under

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

Sources

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

ēn kindness

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
xīn, xin heart
Sound component
yīn cause

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 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 (1 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'onʔˤə[n] kindness, favor

說文解字

《說文》:“恩,惠也。从心,因聲。”

Sources

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