qiàn​xīn

back pay

qiàn, qian yawn, deficient

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

Components

Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts an open mouth.

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)

Sound (3 of 13 verified)

Iconic (6)

Simplified (1)

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

xīn firewood

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Originally written as .

Components

Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

is a component form of .

Sound component
xīn new

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
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-Sagartsin[s]i[n] firewood

說文解字

《說文》:“薪,蕘也。从艸,新聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica