gàn​shén​me HSK1

what for

gàn, gān interfere Simplified

Pictograph of a type of hunting or military tool.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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 (6 of 22 verified)

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkan[k]ˤar pole
kankˤa[r] shield (n.)
kankˤar piece, item
kankˤar (placename)

說文解字

《說文》:“干,犯也。从反入,从一。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.146漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

shén, shen what

Original meaning: file of ten soldiers

The character is based on the original meaning "file of ten soldiers". The modern meaning "what" is a phonetic loan.

Components

Meaning component
rén person

is a component form of .

Meaning component
shí ten

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzyipt.[g]əp troop of ten men

說文解字

《說文》:“什,相什保也。从人、十。”

Sources

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

me [question particle] Simplified

Variant form of , which is a pictograph of a twisted thread.

Component uses

Meaning (1)

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle Chinese
Unicodeqeu

Sources

Character origin
黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.416
Readings & variants
Unicode

trunk Traditional

Both and serve as sound components.

Components

Sound component
gàn sunrise
Sound component
gàn, gān interfere

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkanH[k]ˤar-s stem; framework

說文解字

《說文》:“榦,築牆耑木也。从木,倝聲。”

Sources

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

me interrogative particle Traditional

Original meaning: thin

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
yāo tiny
Sound component
má, ma hemp

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangmaːlʔ

說文解字

《說文》:“麼,細也,从幺麻聲。”

Sources

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