电脑
diàn​nǎo HSK1

computer

电 diàn electricity Simplified

Original meaning: lightning

Simplified form of 電, which depicts lightning (申) during a rainstorm (雨). The 雨 component was deleted for simplification.

Components

電
雨 Deleted component
yǔ rain
申
申 SoundIconic component
shēn to extend

Depicts lightning.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.981-982
Readings & variants
Unicode

脑 nǎo brain Simplified

Simplified form of 腦. Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 𡿺 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

囟
囟 Simplified component
xìn fontanel

Shorthand for the phonetic 𡿺 component in the traditional character 腦.

Sources

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

電 diàn electricity Traditional

Original meaning: lightning

Depicts lightning (申) during a rainstorm (雨).

Components

雨
雨 Meaning component
yǔ rain
申
申 SoundIconic component
shēn to extend

Depicts lightning.

Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdenHlˤi[n]-s lightning

說文解字

《說文》：“電，陰陽激燿也。从雨，从申。，古文電。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.981-982
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

腦 nǎo brain Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 𡿺 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

𡿺
𡿺 SoundMeaning component
nǎo brain

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnawXnˤ[u]ʔ brain

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart