suǒ​yuàn

wish

suǒ place

Origin unclear. represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
hù, hu door
Change in sound
Meaning component
jīn axe

The original purpose of this component is unclear.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsrjoXs-qʰ<r>aʔ place (n.); that which
xuXqʰaʔ 所所 = 許許 = 滸滸 sound of hewing wood

說文解字

《說文》:“所,伐木聲也。从斤,戶聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

yuàn sincere Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. In simplified Chinese is also used to mean "hope; wish", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character .

Components

Sound component
yuán source
Meaning component
xīn, xin heart

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangŋʷans
Unicodengiuæn

說文解字

《說文》:“愿,謹也。从心,原聲。”

Sources

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

desire Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
yuán source
Meaning component
(head), page

Depicts a head, which is where wishes originate from.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngjwonH[ŋ]o[n]-s (< nasal + uvular?) to wish

說文解字

《說文》:“願,大頭也。从頁,原聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica