步态蹒跚
bù​tài​pán​shān

staggering

步 bù step

Pictograph of one foot in front of another, depicting footsteps.

Components

止
止 Iconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop
𣥂
𣥂 Iconic component
tà (foot), to trample

Character Evolution

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 Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

陟歲

Iconic (1)

涉

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

埗

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbuHmə-bˤa-s step

說文解字

《說文》：“步，行也。从止，相背。”

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)

态 tài manner Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 太 represents the sound. Simplified form of 態.

Components

太
太 Sound component
tài, tai very
心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart

Sources

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

蹒 pán, mán, liǎng to jump over Simplified

Components

足
足 Meaning component
zú foot

foot

艹
艹 Unknown component
cao, cǎo grass
两
两 Unknown component
liǎng two

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

跚 shān stagger

Phonosemantic compound. 足 represents the meaning and 册 represents the sound.

Components

足
足 Meaning component
zú foot
册
册 Sound component
cè book

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangslaːn

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

態 tài manner Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 能 represents the sound.

Components

能
能 Sound component
néng to be able
Change in sound
心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartthojHn̥ˤə-s bearing, manner

說文解字

《說文》：“態，意也。从心，从能。，或从人。”

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)

蹣 to jump over Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 足 represents the meaning and 㒼 represents the sound.

Components

足
足 Meaning component
zú foot
㒼
㒼 Sound component
mán equal

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangboːn
moːn

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang