wā​fén

dig grave

dig

To dig out  a hollow  also provides the pronunciation

Components

Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand
SoundMeaning component
wā, yà deep hollow

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangqʷriːd

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

fén grave Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

Meaning component
earth
Sound component
wén writing

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

fén grave Traditional

Components

Meaning component
earth

earth

Sound component
forge ahead

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
Zhengzhangbɯn
bɯnʔ
Unicodebhiən

說文解字

墓也。从土賁聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica