旧闻
jiù​wén

anecdote

旧 jiù old Simplified

Simplified form of 舊. Derived from the cursive form of the sound component 臼.

Components

臼
臼 SoundSimplified component
jiù mortar

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

闻 wén hear, smell Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 耳 represents the meaning and 门 represents the sound. Simplified form of 聞.

Components

耳
耳 Meaning component
ěr ear
门
门 Sound component
mén, men door

Sources

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

舊 jiù old Traditional

Original meaning: type of owl

Phonosemantic compound. 雈 represents the meaning and 臼 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "type of owl". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

雈
雈 Meaning component
huán owl
臼
臼 Sound component
jiù mortar

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartgjuwHN-kʷəʔ-s old

說文解字

《說文》：“舊，舊，舊留也。从萑，臼聲。鵂，舊或从鳥，休聲。”

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)

聞 wén hear, smell Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 耳 represents the meaning and 門 represents the sound.

Components

耳
耳 Meaning component
ěr ear
門
門 Sound component
mén, men door

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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
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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmjunmu[n] hear (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“聞，知聞也。从耳，門聲。，古文从昏。”

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)