古董滩
Gǔ​dǒng​tān

Gudongtan

古 gǔ old

Original meaning: firm, solid

Depicts a shield. Based on the original meaning "firm, solid", which is now written as 固. The current meaning "old" is a phonetic loan.

Components

盾
盾 Iconic component
dùn shield

Depicts a shield.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 盾 than it was in ancient scripts.
口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth

The 口 component is sometimes used to indicate an abstract meaning taken from a concrete object. Here, the concrete object "shield" evokes the abstract meaning "firm, solid".

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (7 of 27 verified)

故苦居胡固姑估枯咕辜沽骷轱钴祜鸪蛄诂牯嘏怙岵罟酤鴣軲鈷

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkuXkˤaʔ ancient

說文解字

《說文》：“古，故也。从十口。識前言者也。，古文古。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.154
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

董 dǒng, zhǒng supervise

Original meaning: type of plant

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 重 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

Change in meaning
艹 hints at the original meaning of 董, "type of plant", which is no longer the most common meaning of 董 in modern Mandarin.
重
重 Sound component
zhòng, chóng heavy

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (1)

懂

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangtoːŋʔ
Unicodedǔng

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

滩 tān beach, bank, shoal Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 难 represents the sound. Simplified from 灘.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water
难
难 Sound component
nán, nan, nàn difficult

Sources

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

灘 tān beach, bank, shoal Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 難 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water
難
難 Sound component
nán, nan, nàn difficult

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartthann̥ˤar (E dialect: *n̥ˤ- > MC th-) foreshore

說文解字

《說文》：“，水濡而乾也。从水，聲。《詩》曰：‘其乾矣。’灘，俗从隹。”

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)