可伦坡
Kě​lún​pō

Colombo

可 kě able to

Original meaning: sing

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and a pictograph of an axe handle (丂) which is now written as 柯 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "sing", now written as 歌. The current meaning "able to" is a phonetic loan.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
Change in meaning
口 hints at the original meaning of 可, "sing", which is no longer the most common meaning of 可 in modern Mandarin.
丂
丂 SoundIconic component
kǎo, qiǎo, yú axe handle

Depicts an axe handle.

Change in sound

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 Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 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
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 (6 of 20 verified)

何阿奇河哥呵柯苛珂诃轲坷舸岢疴哿蚵钶軻訶

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

珂

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhaX[k]ʰˤa[j]ʔ may; acceptable

說文解字

《說文》：“可，肎也。从口、丂，丂亦聲。”

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)

伦 lún human relationship Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 仑 represents the sound. Simplified form of 倫.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

仑
仑 Sound component
lún, lùn logical reasons

Sources

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

坡 pō slope

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 皮 represents the sound.

Components

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth
皮
皮 Sound component
pí skin

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangpʰaːl
Unicodepɑ

說文解字

阪也。从土皮聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

倫 human relationship Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 侖 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

侖
侖 Sound component
arrange

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlwin[r]u[n] relationship; order; category

說文解字

《說文》：“倫，輩也。从人，侖聲。一曰道也。”

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)