挣脱
zhèng​tuō

break free

挣 zhēng, zhèng strive Simplified

To fight 争 by hand 扌; 争 also provides the pronunciation

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand
争
争 SoundMeaning component
zhēng strife, quarrel

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

脱 tuō take off Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 兑 represents the sound. Simplified form of 脫.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

兑
兑 Sound component
duì, ruì, duó exchange
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdwajHlˤot-s easy, leisurely
dwatlˤot remove outer covering
thwatmə-l̥ˤot peel off

Sources

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

掙 zhēng, zhèng strive Traditional

To fight 爭 by hand 扌; 爭 also provides the pronunciation

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand
爭
爭 SoundMeaning component
zhēng strife, quarrel

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica

脫 tuō take off Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 兌 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

兌
兌 Sound component
exchange
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

《說文》：“脫，消肉臞也。从肉，兌聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)