泥铲
ní​chǎn

trowel

泥 ní mud

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 尼 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

尼
尼 Sound component
ní, nǐ Buddhist nun

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnejC.nˤ[əj]mud
nejHnˤər(ʔ)-simpeded, obstructed (Lunyu)
Zhengzhangniːl
niːls
Unicodenei
nèi

說文解字

水。出北地郁郅北蠻中。从水尼聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

铲 chǎn spade Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 产 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鏟.

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

产
产 Sound component
chǎn give birth

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

鏟 chǎn spade Traditional

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal

metal

産
産 Sound component
chǎn give birth

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsŋ̊ʰreːnʔ
sŋ̊ʰraːns
Unicodechrɛ̌n

說文解字

鏶也。一曰平𨮯。从金産聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)