吞咽困难 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

tūn swallow

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 天 represents the sound.

Components

口 Meaning component

kǒu, kou mouth

天 Sound component

tiān, tian sky

Character Evolution

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	then	l̥ ˤən	(surname)
	thon	l̥ ˤən	to swallow
Zhengzhang		qʰl'iːn
		qʰl'ɯːn
Unicode	tən

說文解字

咽也。从口天聲。

Sources

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

yàn, yè, yān throat Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 因 represents the sound. Simplified form of 嚥.

Components

口 Meaning component

kǒu, kou mouth

因 Sound component

yīn cause

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	ʔen	ʔˤi[n]	gullet
	ʔenH	ʔˤi[n]-s	swallow (v.)
Zhengzhang		qiːn
		qiːns
		qiːd
Unicode	qet

說文解字

嗌也。从口因聲。

Sources

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

kùn to trap, surround

Original meaning: doorway, threshold

Depicts a wooden (木) door frame (囗). Based on the original meaning "doorway, threshold". The meaning later expanded to "obstruct" and "trap".

Components

囗 Iconic component

wéi, guó surround

Depicts a door frame.

木 Meaning component

mù tree

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

捆阃悃睏閫

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khwonH	kʰˤu[n]-s	obstruct; distress

說文解字

《說文》：“困，故廬也。从木在囗中。，古文困。”

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)

nán, nan, nàn difficult Simplified

Original meaning: type of bird

Simplified form of 難. Phonosemantic compound. 隹 represents the meaning and 𦰩 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "type of bird". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

又 Simplified component

yòu again

Shorthand for the 𦰩 component in the traditional character 難.

隹 Meaning component

zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

滩摊瘫傩

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

yàn swallow Traditional

Components

口 Meaning component

kǒu, kou mouth

mouth

燕 Sound component

yàn swallow (bird)

Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	qeːns

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang

nán, nan, nàn difficult Traditional

Original meaning: type of bird

Phonosemantic compound. 隹 represents the meaning and 𦰩 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "type of bird". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.