fàn​chēng

general term

fàn to drift

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

Components

Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

is a component form of .

Sound component
lack

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartphjomHpʰ(r)[o]m-sto float
Zhengzhangpʰoms
bob
Unicodepiæ̀m

說文解字

浮也。从水乏聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

chēng, chèn call Simplified

Original meaning: measure weight

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "measure weight". The meaning later shifted to "lift", "raise", "praise", "reputation", and "call".

Components

Meaning component
grain stalk

Alludes to measuring the weight of grain.

Simplified component
ěr you

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

Sources

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

chēng, chèn call Traditional

Original meaning: measure weight

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "measure weight". The meaning later shifted to "lift", "raise", "praise", "reputation", and "call".

Components

Meaning component
grain stalk

Alludes to measuring the weight of grain.

SoundMeaning component
chēng, chèn, chèng pick up

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyhingtʰəŋ weigh; evaluate; call
tsyhingHmə-tʰəŋ-s steelyard

說文解字

《說文》:“稱,銓也。从禾,爯聲。春分而禾生,日夏至晷景可度,禾有秒,秋分而秒定。律數十二,秒而當一分,十分而寸。其以為重,十二粟為一分,十二分為一銖。故諸程品皆从禾。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica