tuō​guǎn​bān

after-school program

tuō to hold up, support

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

is a component form of .

Sound component
tuō, zhé to depend on

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangl̥ʰaːɡ

Sources

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

guǎn pipe

Original meaning: musical tube made of bamboo

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and represents the sound. Originally a musical tube made of bamboo. The meaning "to manage" is a phonetic loan.

Components

Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of .

Sound component
guān official

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkwanX[k]ˤo[n]ʔ tube; flute
kwanXkʷˤa[n]ʔ exhausted, helpless
kwanXkʷˤa[n]ʔ helpless

說文解字

《說文》:“管,如箎,六孔,十二月之音,物開地牙,故謂之管。从竹,官聲。琯,古者玉琯以玉。舜之時,西王母來獻其白琯。前零陵文學姓奚,於伶道舜祠下得笙玉琯。夫以玉作音,故神人以和,鳳皇來儀也。从玉,官聲。”

Sources

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

bān group

Original meaning: divide

Depicts a knife () cutting a gem into two halves (), based on the original meaning "to divide". The meaning later shifted to "division", "group", and "team".

Components

Iconic component
jué two pieces of jade joined together
Iconic component
dāo knife

is a component form of .


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Xin 9-23 AD
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 ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpaenpˤ<r>an divide, distribute

說文解字

《說文》:“班,分瑞玉。从玨,从刀。”

Sources

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