怎的 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

zěnde

how

zěn what? why? how?

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

心 Meaning component

xīn, xin heart

乍 Sound component

zhà, zuò suddenly

Change in sound

怎 and 乍 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.

Original meaning: bright

Phonosemantic compound. 白 represents the meaning and 勺 represents the sound. The character is based on the original meaning "bright".

白 Meaning component

bái, bai white

Change in meaning

白 hints at the original meaning of 的, "bright", which is no longer the most common meaning of 的 in modern Mandarin.

勺 Sound component

sháo, shuò, zhuó spoon

Change in sound

的 and 勺 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
的 *[t-l]ˤewk
勺 *m-tewk

Regular Modern

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	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tek	[t-l]ˤewk	bright; mark in a target

《說文》：“旳，明也。从日，勺聲。《易》曰：‘為的顙。’”