fǎn​hán​shù

inverse function

fǎn reverse

Original meaning: climb

Pictograph of a hand () climbing a cliff (). Based on original meaning "climb", now written as . The meaning later shifted to "pull" and "reverse".

Components

Iconic component
chǎng cliff, (roof)
Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 13 verified)

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbaenX[b]ˤranʔ dignified, grand
pjonXCə.panʔ reverse (v.)

說文解字

《說文》:“反,覆也。从又、厂。反形。,古文。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.206漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

hán envelop, case

Original meaning: quiver, arrow case

Pictograph of an arrow inside a quiver. Based on the original meaning "quiver, arrow case". The meaning later shifted to "case", "box", "envelop" and "letter".

Components

Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts an inverted arrow.

Iconic component
qiǎn, kǎn enclosure

Used here to depict a quiver.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthomCə-m-kˤ[ə]m envelop, contain

說文解字

《說文》:“圅,舌也。象形,舌體。从,亦聲。肣,俗圅从肉、今。”

Sources

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

shù, shǔ, shu number Simplified

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

Components

Meaning component
tap

is a component form of .

Sound component
lóu, lǚ, lǘ surname
Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

shù, shǔ, shu number Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
tap

is a component form of .

Sound component
surname
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsrjuXs-roʔ count (v.)
srjuHs-roʔ-s number (n.)
sraewks-rok frequently

說文解字

《說文》:“數,計也。从攴,婁聲。”

Sources

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