破财免灾 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

pòcáimiǎnzāi

averting disaster

pò break

Phonosemantic compound. 石 represents the meaning and 皮 represents the sound.

Components

石 Meaning component

shí stone

皮 Sound component

pí skin

Change in sound

破 and 皮 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
破 *pʰˤaj-s
皮 *m-[p](r)aj

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

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	phaH	pʰˤaj-s	break (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“破，石碎也。从石，皮聲。”

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)

cái wealth Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 贝 represents the meaning and 才 represents the sound. Simplified form of 財.

Components

贝 Meaning component

bèi sea shell

In ancient China, shells were used as currency.

才 Sound component

cái, cai talent

Sources

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

miǎn (hat), avoid

Original meaning: hat

Pictograph of a person wearing a hat or a crown, now written as 冕. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Qin 221-206 BC

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

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (3 of 11 verified)

晚勉挽冕娩谗鞔浼輓絻𠓥

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	mjenX	mr[o][r]ʔ	avoid

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.640-641林志強《《文源》評注》p.410
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica

zāi calamity Simplified

Depicts a fire (火) burning a building (宀).

Components

宀 Iconic component

mián roof

火 Iconic component

huǒ fire

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Seal form — Seal Qin 221-206 BC

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 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

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsoj	[ts]ˤə	calamity

說文解字

《說文》：“烖，天火曰烖。从火，聲。灾，或从宀、火；，古文从才；災，籀文从。”

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)

cái wealth Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 才 represents the sound.

Components

貝 Meaning component

bèi sea shell

In ancient China, shells were used as currency.

才 Sound component

cái, cai talent

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

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dzoj	[dz]ˤə	wealth

說文解字

《說文》：“財，人所寶也。从貝，才聲。”

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)

zāi calamity Traditional

Depicts a fire (火) and a flood (𡿧).

Components

𡿧 Sound Iconic component

zāi flood

火 Iconic component

huǒ fire

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Seal form — Seal Qin 221-206 BC

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 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

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsoj	[ts]ˤə	calamity

說文解字

《說文》：“烖，天火曰烖。从火，聲。灾，或从宀、火；，古文从才；災，籀文从。”

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)