怪杰
guài​jié

eccentric genius

怪 guài strange

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 圣 represents the sound.

Components

忄
忄 Meaning component
xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

圣
圣 Sound component
shèng sage, holy
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkweajH[k]ʷˤrə-s extraordinary

說文解字

《說文》：“怪，異也。从心，圣聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫Zhengzhang Shangfang
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

杰 jié outstanding Simplified

Depicts a tree (木) and fire (灬). Simplified form of 傑.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
灬
灬 Meaning component
biāo, huǒ fire

灬 is a component form of 火.

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangɡrad

Sources

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

傑 hero Traditional

Original meaning: to be elevated

Originally written as 桀, which depicts two feet (舛) on top of a tree (木). 亻 (person) was later added to the character as a meaning component. Based on the original meaning, "to be elevated". The meaning later shifted to "outstanding person" and "hero".

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

桀
桀 SoundIconic component
jié cruel

Depicts two feet (舛) on top of a tree (木).

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartgjetN-[k]<r>at remarkable; hero

說文解字

《說文》：“傑，傲也。从人，桀聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.2404
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)