欢欣鼓舞
huān​xīn​gǔ​wǔ

elated

欢 huan, huān happy Simplified

Simplified form of 歡. Phonosemantic compound. 欠 represents the meaning and 雚 represents the sound. 欠 (yawn) is a pictograph of a person with an open mouth, used here to represent a person joyfully laughing.

Components

又
又 Simplified component
yòu again

Shorthand for the 雚 component in the traditional character 歡.

欠
欠 Iconic component
qiàn, qian yawn, deficient

Depicts a person opening their mouth to laugh.

Sources

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

欣 xīn happy, joyous

Phonosemantic compound. 欠 represents the meaning and 斤 represents the sound.

Components

斤
斤 Sound component
jīn axe
欠
欠 Meaning component
qiàn, qian yawn, deficient

Depicts an open mouth laughing or rejoicing.

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

掀锨

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxj+nqʰər rejoice

說文解字

《說文》：“欣，笑喜也。从欠，斤聲。”

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)

鼓 gǔ drum

Depicts a drumstick held in the hand (支) beating on a drum (壴).

Components

壴
壴 Iconic component
zhù drum
支
支 Iconic component
zhī support, hold up

Depicts a hand holding a drumstick.


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 Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

鼙瞽臌

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

鼗鼕

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkuX[k]ˤaʔ drum (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“鼓，郭也。春分之音，萬物郭皮甲而出，故謂之鼓。从壴。支，象其手擊之也。《周禮》：‘六鼓：靁鼓八面，靈鼓六面，路鼓四面，鼖鼓、皐鼓、晉鼓皆兩面。’，籀文鼓。从古聲。”

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)

舞 wǔ dance

Originally written as 無, which is a pictograph of a person dancing, with ox tails or bird feathers hanging from his arms, to pray for rain. The 舛 (two feet) component was later added to emphasize the action of dancing after 無 was phonetically borrowed for different meanings.

Components

舛
舛 Iconic component
chuǎn oppose

Depicts two feet.

無
無 SoundIconicRemnant component
wú negative

Depicts a person dancing with ox tails or bird feathers hanging from his arms.


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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmjuXk.m(r)aʔ dance (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“舞，樂也。用足相背。从舛，舞聲。，古文舞从羽、亡。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.472林志強《《文源》評注》p.203
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

歡 huan, huān happy Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 欠 represents the meaning and 雚 represents the sound. 欠 (yawn) is a pictograph of a person with an open mouth, used here to represent a person joyfully laughing.

Components

雚
雚 Sound component
guàn, huán heron
欠
欠 Iconic component
qiàn, qian yawn, deficient

Depicts a person opening their mouth to laugh.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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-Sagartxwanqʷʰˤar rejoice; joyous

說文解字

《說文》：“歡，喜樂也。从欠，雚聲。”

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)