搞怪
gǎo​guài

act wacky

搞 gǎo to do, take care of

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

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

高
高 Sound component
gāo high

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkruːʔ

Sources

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

怪 guài strange

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 圣 represents the sound.

Components

忄
忄 Meaning component
xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

圣
圣 Sound component
shèng sage, holy
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkweajH[k]ʷˤrə-s extraordinary

說文解字

《說文》：“怪，異也。从心，圣聲。”

Sources

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