发明创造 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

fā, fa, fà issue Simplified

Simplified form of both 發 (send out) and 髮 (hair). Visually similar to 犮, the bottom component of 髮.

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

废泼酦袯

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

拨

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

míng, ming bright

The character was originally depicted moonlight (月) shining through a window (囧). The 囧 component was later reanalyzed as 日 (sun).

Components

囧 Sound Iconic component

jiǒng bright window

The modern form looks similar to 日 (sun).

Change in sound

明 and 囧 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
明 *mraŋ
囧 *k-mraŋʔ (dialect: *k.mr- > *kʷr-)

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 囧 than it was in ancient scripts.

月 Iconic component

yuè, yue moon

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

盟萌

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	mjaeng	mraŋ	bright

說文解字

《說文》：“朙，照也。从月，从囧。明，古文朙，从日。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.551-552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)

chuàng, chuāng begin, establish Simplified

Original meaning: wound, injury

Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 仓 represents the sound. Simplified form of 創. Based on the original meaning "wound, injury". The meaning "begin, establish" is a phonetic loan.

Components

仓 Sound component

cāng granary

刂 Meaning component

dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Sources

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

zào construct

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 告 represents the sound.

Components

辶 Meaning component

chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

告 Sound component

gào tell

Originally this component was a pictograph of grass, similar to 艸, but later was reanalyzed as the visually similar 告.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

糙簉

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dzawX	[dzˤ]uʔ	make
	tshawH	(mə-)tsʰˤuʔ-s	go to

說文解字

就也。从辵告聲。譚長說：造，上士也。

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)

fā, fa, fà send out Traditional

Depicts a hand pulling back an arrow (殳) in a bow (弓). 癶 represents the sound.

Components

癶 Sound component

bō legs

Change in sound

發 and 癶 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
發 *Cə.pat
癶 paːd

弓 Iconic component

gōng bow

Depicts a bow.

殳 Iconic component

shū weapon or tool

Depicts a hand pulling an arrow.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

醱廢潑

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

撥

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	pjot	Cə.pat	fly forth, send forth

說文解字

《說文》：“發，發也。从弓，癹聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.880-881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)

chuàng, chuāng begin, establish Traditional

Original meaning: wound, injury

Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 倉 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "wound, injury". The meaning "begin, establish" is a phonetic loan.

Components

倉 Sound component

cāng granary

刂 Meaning component

dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsrhjang	[tsʰ]raŋ	wound (v.)
	tsrhjangH	[tsʰ]raŋ-s	begin

說文解字

《說文》：“刅，傷也。从刃，从一。創，或从刀，倉聲。”

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)

发 fā, fa, fà issue Simplified

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

明 míng, ming bright

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

创 chuàng, chuāng begin, establish Simplified

Components

Sources

造 zào construct

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

發 fā, fa, fà send out Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

創 chuàng, chuāng begin, establish Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

fā, fa, fà issue Simplified

míng, ming bright

chuàng, chuāng begin, establish Simplified

zào construct

fā, fa, fà send out Traditional

chuàng, chuāng begin, establish Traditional