qiàn​xiàng

debt

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

xiàng neck Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

Sound component
gōng work
Change in sound
Meaning component
page

Depicts a head.

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

xiàng neck Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
gōng work
Change in sound
Meaning component
(head), page

Depicts a head.

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 Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthaewngX[g]ˤroŋʔ neck

說文解字

《說文》:“項,頭後也。从頁,工聲。”

Sources

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