往复
wǎng​fù

reciprocate

往 wǎng, wàng go

Phonosemantic compound. 彳 and 止 represent the meaning, and 王 represents the sound.

Components

彳
彳 Meaning component
chì, fú walk

彳 is a component form of 行.

止
止 Meaning component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot. Abbreviated to a single stroke in the modern form.

王
王 Sound component
wáng king

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

狂

Remnant (1)

狂

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthjwangXɢʷaŋʔ go to

說文解字

《說文》：“往，之也。从彳，聲。，古文从辵。”

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)

复 fù return Simplified

Pictograph of a foot entering or exiting a building, representing the meaning "to return".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts some sort of enclosed building.

夂
夂 Iconic component
zhǐ, zhōng go

夂 is a component form of 止. Depicts a foot.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 7 verified)

腹蝮愎馥複鳆復

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

愎復

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjuwkm-p(r)uk return

說文解字

《說文》：“，行故道也。从夊，畗省聲。”

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)

復 return Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 彳 represents the meaning and 复 represents the sound.

Components

彳
彳 Meaning component
chì, fú walk

彳 is a component form of 行.

复
复 SoundMeaning component
fù return

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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 (1)

覆

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbjuwH[N]-pruk-s again
bjuwkm-p(r)uk return

說文解字

《說文》：“復，往來也。从彳，复聲。”

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)