溪涧
xī​jiàn

mountain gorge

溪 xī mountain stream

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 奚 represents the sound. Simplified form of 谿.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

奚
奚 Sound component
xī where? what? how? why?

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhejkʰˤevalley with stream in it
Zhengzhangkʰeː
Unicodekei

Sources

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

涧 jiàn brook Simplified

A stream 氵 flowing through a valley 间; 间 also provides the pronunciation

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water
间
间 SoundMeaning component
jiān, jian, jiàn space

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

澗 brook Traditional

A stream 氵 flowing through a valley 間; 間 also provides the pronunciation

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water
間
間 SoundMeaning component
jiān, jian, jiàn space

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkænH[k]ˤra[n]-s (rhymes as if *[k]ˤra[n])stream in a ravine
Zhengzhangkreːns
kraːns
Unicodegɑ̀n

說文解字

山夾水也。从水閒聲。一曰澗水，出弘農新安，東南入洛。

Sources

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