对答
duì​dá

reply

对 duì correct Simplified

Original meaning: develop land

Simplified form of 對. Depicts a hand (寸) holding a farming tool (丵) to develop land (土). Based on the original meaning "develop land".

Components

又
又 Simplified component
yòu again

Shorthand for the left half of 對.

寸
寸 Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Depicts a hand.

Component uses

Simplified (1)

树

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

怼

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.169-171漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

答 dá, dā answer

Original meaning: small bean

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 合 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "small bean". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

Change in meaning
⺮ hints at the original meaning of 答, "small bean", which is no longer the most common meaning of 答 in modern Mandarin.
合
合 Sound component
hé to join
Change in sound

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

劄

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttop[t]ˤ[u]p answer

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.68
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart

對 duì correct Traditional

Original meaning: develop land

Depicts a hand (寸) holding a farming tool (丵) to develop land (土). Based on the original meaning "develop land".

Components

丵
丵 Iconic component
zhuó chisel

Depicts a farming tool.

土
土 Iconic component
tǔ earth
寸
寸 Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Depicts a hand.


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 Early Western Zhou ~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 Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

懟

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttwojH[t]ˤ[u]p-s respond

說文解字

《說文》：“，譍無方也。从丵，从口，从寸。對，或从土。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.169-171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)