fǎn​wéi​jiǎo

counter-encirclement

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

wéi surround Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
Sound component
wéi, huí tanned leather

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

jiǎo destroy

Components

Sound component
cháo nest
Meaning component
dāo knife

knife

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsjewX[ts]awʔcut off
Zhengzhangʔslawʔ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang

wéi surround Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
Sound component
(surround a city), tanned leather

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthjw+j[ɢ]ʷə[j] surround

說文解字

《說文》:“圍,守也。从囗,韋聲。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica