教练机
jiào​liàn​jī

trainer aircraft

教 jiào, jiāo teach

Depicts teaching a child (子) mathematics or divination (爻) using a rod (攵).

Components

爻
爻 SoundIconic component
yáo, xiào diagrams for divination
子
子 Iconic component
zi, zǐ child
攵
攵 Iconic component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 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-Sagartkaews.[k]ˤraw teach
kaewHs.kˤraw-s teaching; instruction

說文解字

《說文》：“教，上所施下所效也。从攴，从。，古文教；，亦古文教。”

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)

练 liàn practice Simplified

Original meaning: boil and scour raw silk

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 柬 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "boil and scour raw silk" to make it softer and whiter. The meaning later shifted to "to make perfect" and "to practice". Simplified form of 練.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

Change in meaning
纟 hints at the original meaning of 练, " boil and scour raw silk", which is no longer the most common meaning of 练 in modern Mandarin.
柬
柬 SoundSimplified component
jiǎn letter

Derived from the cursive form of the traditional 柬 component.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

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)

練 liàn practice Traditional

Original meaning: boil and scour raw silk

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 柬 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "boil and scour raw silk" to make it softer and whiter. The meaning later shifted to "to make perfect" and "to practice".

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

Change in meaning
糹 hints at the original meaning of 練, "boil and scour raw silk", which is no longer the most common meaning of 練 in modern Mandarin.
柬
柬 Sound component
jiǎn letter

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlenH[r]ˤen-s sized white silk

說文解字

《說文》：“練，湅繒也。从糸，柬聲。”

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)