怎幺
zěn​me

how; what

怎 zěn what? why? how?

Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 乍 represents the sound.

Components

心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart
乍
乍 Sound component
zhà, zuò suddenly
Change in sound

Sources

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

幺 yāo tiny Simplified

Pictograph of a twisted thread.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (7)

玄後奚胤𤔔樂𢆶

Meaning (3 of 5 verified)

幻幼兹麼茲

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

幼吆

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'ewʔˤ[i]w small (Shuōwén)

說文解字

《說文》：“幺，小也。象子初生之形。”

Sources

Character origin
黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.416
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

麼 me interrogative particle Traditional

Original meaning: thin

Phonosemantic compound. 幺 represents the meaning and 麻 represents the sound.

Components

幺
幺 Meaning component
yāo tiny
麻
麻 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
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)