投机倒把
tóu​jī​dǎo​bǎ

speculate and profiteer

投 tóu throw

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 殳 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

殳
殳 Sound component
shū weapon or tool
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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-Sagartduw[d]ˤo throw

說文解字

《說文》：“投，擿也。从手，从殳。”

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)

机 jī machine Simplified

Simplified form of 機. Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 几 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
几
几 SoundSimplified component
jǐ, jī small table

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkijXkrəjʔ small table, stool

說文解字

《說文》：“机，木也。从木，几聲。”

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)

倒 dào, dǎo fall over

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 到 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

到
到 Sound component
dào, dao go to

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttawXtˤawʔ turn upside down (v.i.)
tawHtˤawʔ-s turn over, invert; pour

說文解字

《說文新附》：“倒，仆也。从人，到聲。”

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)

把 bǎ hold

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 巴 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

巴
巴 Sound component
ba, bā to wish

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

筢

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpaeXpˤraʔ grasp (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“把，握也。从手，把聲。”

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)

機 jī machine Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 幾 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
幾
幾 Sound component
jǐ how much

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkj+jkəj mechanism

說文解字

《說文》：“機，主發謂之機。从木，幾聲。”

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)