妊娠试验
rèn​shēn​shì​yàn

pregnancy test

妊 rèn, rén conceive

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 壬 represents the sound. Simplified form of 姙.

Components

女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman
壬
壬 Sound component
rén 9th heavenly stem

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangnjɯms

說文解字

孕也。从女从壬，壬亦聲。

Sources

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

娠 shēn pregnant

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 辰 represents the sound.

Components

女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman
辰
辰 Sound component
chén early morning

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsyins-tərpregnant
tsyinHtər-spregnant
Zhengzhangtjɯns
hljɯn

說文解字

女妊身動也。从女辰聲。《春秋傳》曰：“后緡方娠。”一曰宮婢女隸謂之娠。

Sources

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

试 shì test Simplified

Simplified form of 試. Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 式 represents the sound.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

式
式 Sound component
shì, shi style

Sources

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

验 yàn test Simplified

Original meaning: type of horse

Phonosemantic compound. 马 represents the meaning and 佥 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "type of horse". The current meaning is a phonetic loan. Simplified form of 驗.

Components

马
马 Meaning component
mǎ horse
Change in meaning
马 hints at the original meaning of 验, "type of horse", which is no longer the most common meaning of 验 in modern Mandarin.
佥
佥 Sound component
qiān together

Sources

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

試 shì test Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 式 represents the sound.

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
式
式 Sound component
shì, shi style

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsyiHl̥ək-s test, try

說文解字

《說文》：“試，用也。从言，式聲。《虞書》曰：‘明試以功。’”

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)

驗 yàn test Traditional

Original meaning: type of horse

Phonosemantic compound. 馬 represents the meaning and 僉 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "type of horse". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

馬
馬 Meaning component
mǎ horse
Change in meaning
馬 hints at the original meaning of 驗, "type of horse", which is no longer the most common meaning of 驗 in modern Mandarin.
僉
僉 Sound component
together

Character Evolution

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-SagartngjemHm-qʰr[a]m-s verify

說文解字

《說文》：“驗，馬名。从馬，僉聲。”

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)