欠债
qiàn​zhài

be in debt

欠 qiàn, qian yawn, deficient

Pictograph of a person (人) opening their mouth to yawn.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts an open mouth.

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (13 of 23 verified)

次款欧欲吹欣欺歇歉欤歆歙欹欷歃歎歔欶欻欮歐瘚歛

Sound (3 of 13 verified)

饮钦砍坎嵌炊芡飲肷欿欽欻㳄

Iconic (6)

欢歌饮飲歡㳄

Simplified (1)

软

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhjomH[k]ʰ(r)om-s yawn

說文解字

《說文》：“欠，張口气悟也。象气从人上出之形。”

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)

债 zhài debt Simplified

A person's 亻 duty 责; 责 also provides the pronunciation

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person
责
责 SoundMeaning component
zé responsibility

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

債 zhài debt Traditional

A person's 亻 duty 責; 責 also provides the pronunciation

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person
責
責 SoundMeaning component
zé responsibility

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsrɛHs-tˤrek-sdebt
Zhengzhangʔsreːɡs
ʔsreːɡ
Unicodejrɛi

說文解字

債負也。从人、責，責亦聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)