帮倒忙
bāng​dào​máng

be a hindrance

帮 bāng help Simplified

Original meaning: side of a shoe

Phonosemantic compound. 巾 represents the meaning and 邦 represents the sound. Simplified form of 幫. Based on the original meaning "side of a shoe". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

巾
巾 Meaning component
jīn cloth
邦
邦 Sound component
bāng nation

Sources

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

倒 dào, dǎo fall over

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 到 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

到
到 Sound component
dào, dao go to

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttawXtˤawʔ turn upside down (v.i.)
tawHtˤawʔ-s turn over, invert; pour

說文解字

《說文新附》：“倒，仆也。从人，到聲。”

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)

忙 máng busy

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 亡 represents the sound.

Components

忄
忄 Meaning component
xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

亡
亡 Sound component
wáng death

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmangmˤaŋ flurried

Sources

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

幫 bāng help Traditional

Original meaning: side of a shoe

Phonosemantic compound. 帛 represents the meaning and 封 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "side of a shoe". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

帛
帛 Meaning component
bó silks
封
封 Sound component
fēng letter

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpaːŋ

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang