guì​guān

laurel

guì cassia or cinnamon

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
tree
Sound component
guī jade pointed at top

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangkʷeːs
Unicodeguèi

說文解字

江南木,百藥之長。从木圭聲。

Sources

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

guān, guàn cap

Pictograph of a person () wearing a hat (). also represents the sound. The (hand) component was added later to possibly indicate the hat is being held and put onto the head.

Components

Iconic component
mào cap

Modern form looks like unrelated .

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
SoundIconic component
yuán first

Depicts a person.

Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwan[k.ʔ]ˤor cap (n.)
kwanHk.ʔˤor-s cap (v.)

說文解字

《說文》:“冠,絭也。所以絭髮,弁冕之總名也。从冖,从元,元亦聲。冠有法制,从寸。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.612
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica