惨酷
cǎn​kù

cruel

惨 cǎn sad Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 参 represents the sound. Simplified form of 慘.

Components

忄
忄 Meaning component
xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

参
参 Sound component
cān, shēn take part in

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

酷 kù strong (wine), cool

Phonosemantic compound. 酉 represents the meaning and 告 represents the sound.

Components

酉
酉 Meaning component
yǒu wine
告
告 Sound component
gào tell
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhowkkʰˤuk cruel

說文解字

《說文》：“酷，酒厚味也。从酉，告聲。”

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)

慘 cǎn sad Traditional

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

Components

忄
忄 Meaning component
xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

參
參 Sound component
cān, shēn take part in

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsʰluːmʔ
Unicodetsǒm

說文解字

毒也。从心參聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)