家常便饭
jiā​cháng​biàn​fàn

commonplace

家 jiā, jia house

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and a remnant of 豭 represents the sound.

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof
豭
豭 SoundRemnant component
jiā boar

Left half of 豭 (boar).

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

嫁稼镓傢

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkaekˤra household

說文解字

《說文》：“家，居也。从宀，豭省聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.589-590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)

常 cháng common

Original meaning: lower garment

Phonosemantic compound. 巾 represents the meaning and 尚 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning, "lower garment", now written as 裳. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

尚
尚 Sound component
shàng, shang esteem
巾
巾 Meaning component
jīn cloth

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

嫦

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzyang[d]aŋ constant

說文解字

《說文》：“常，下帬也。从巾，尚聲。裳，常或从衣。”

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)

便 biàn, pián convenience

Original meaning: whip a person

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 𠓥 represents the sound. Originally written as 𠓥, which depicted a hand holding a whip with the 丙 component. Based on the original meaning "whip a person", now written as 鞭. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

Change in meaning
亻 hints at the original meaning of 便, "whip a person", which is no longer the most common meaning of 便 in modern Mandarin.
𠓥
𠓥 SoundMeaning component
biān whip

Modern form looks like unrelated 更.

Change in meaning
𠓥 hints at the original meaning of 便, "whip a person", which is no longer the most common meaning of 便 in modern Mandarin.
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 𠓥 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

鞭缏

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbjienH[b]e[n]-s comfortable; advantageous
bjien[b]e[n] glib-tongued

說文解字

《說文》：“便，安也。人有不便，更之。从人、更。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤 《字源》 p.711The Outlier Linguistics Dictionary of Chinese Characters
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

饭 fàn cooked rice Simplified

Simplified form of 飯. Phonosemantic compound. 饣 represents the meaning and 反 represents the sound.

Components

饣
饣 Meaning component
shí eat

饣 is a component form of 食.

反
反 Sound component
fǎn reverse

Sources

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

飯 fàn cooked rice Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 飠 represents the meaning and 反 represents the sound.

Components

飠
飠 Meaning component
eat

飠 is a component form of 食.

反
反 Sound component
fǎn reverse

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbjonXbo[n]ʔ eat
bjonHbo[n]ʔ-s cooked rice or millet

說文解字

《說文》：“飯，食也。从食，反聲。”

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)