xún​yǎn

tour

xún patrol

To walk  by the river  also provides the pronunciation

Components

Meaning component
chuò walk
SoundMeaning component
chuān, shùn river

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartzwin[sə.l]u[n]perambulate
Zhengzhangsɢljun
Unicodezuin

說文解字

延行皃。从辵川聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

yǎn perform

Original meaning: flow out

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "flow out". The meaning later shifted to "spread", "develop", and "perform".

Components

Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

is a component form of .

Sound component
yín 3rd earthly branch

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartyenXN-q(r)anʔ flow out, extend

說文解字

《說文》:“演,長流也。一曰水名。从水,寅聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica