kuǎn​kuǎn

leisurely

kuǎn item, funds

Original meaning: desire to have something

Phonosemantic compound. represents the sound and represents the meaning. Based on the original meaning "desire to have something". The meaning later shifted to "funds" and "item".

Components

Sound component
nài crab-apple tree
Change in sound
Meaning component
qiàn, qian yawn, deficient
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "desire to have something", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangkʰloːnʔ
Unicodekuɑn

說文解字

《說文》:“,意有所欲也。从欠,祟欠省。歀,或从柰。”

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.768
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica