Original meaning: loud sound
Phonosemantic compound. 弓 represents the sound and 口 represents the original meaning "loud sound". The meaning later extended to "great", "vast".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | hwong | [ɢ]ʷˤəŋ | vast |
說文解字
《說文》：“弘，弓聲也。从弓，厶聲。厶，古文肱字。”
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)
Simplified
Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 原 represents the sound. In simplified Chinese 愿 is also used to mean "hope; wish", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 願.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | |
|---|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | ŋʷans | |
| Unicode | ngiuæn |
說文解字
《說文》：“愿，謹也。从心，原聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Zhengzhang Shangfang
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ngjwonH | [ŋ]o[n]-s (< nasal + uvular?) | to wish |
說文解字
《說文》：“願，大頭也。从頁，原聲。”
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)