穷则思变 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

qióng poor Simplified

Simplified form of 窮. Phonosemantic compound. 穴 represents the meaning and 躬 represents the sound.

Components

穴 Meaning component

xué, jué cave

力 Simplified component

lì, li power

Shorthand for the 躬 component in the traditional character 窮.

Sources

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

zé rule Simplified

Original meaning: law

Simplified form of 則. Depicts carving inscriptions on bronzeware (鼎) with a knife (刂). Based on the original meaning "law". In ancient China, some legal writings were inscribed on bronzeware.

Components

鼎 Iconic Remnant component

dǐng, zhēn cooking pot

Modern form looks like unrelated 贝.

刂 Iconic component

dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Component uses

Sources

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

sī, si think

Thought is associated with the head (囟) and heart (心). 囟 is also a phonetic component.

Components

囟 Sound Meaning component

xìn fontanel

Depicts the top of the head. The modern form of the this component looks like 田 (field), but is unrelated.

Change in sound

思 and 囟 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
思 *[s]ə
囟 *[s]ə[r]-s

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 囟 than it was in ancient scripts.

心 Meaning component

xīn, xin heart

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

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

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

腮鳃锶缌葸鰓

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

勰慮

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	si	[s]ə	think

說文解字

《說文》：“思，容也。从心，囟聲。”

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)

biàn change Simplified

Simplified form of 變. Phonosemantic compound. 夂 represents the meaning and 䜌 represents the sound.

Components

䜌 Sound Simplified component

luán tie together

Change in sound

变 and 䜌 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.

又 Simplified component

yòu again

Shorthand for the 夂 component in the traditional character 變. 夂 is a component form of 止.

Sources

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

qióng poor Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 穴 represents the meaning and 躬 represents the sound.

Components

穴 Meaning component

xué, jué cave

躬 Sound component

gōng body

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

藭

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	gjuwng	[g](r)uŋ	poor
	gjuwng	m-[g](r)uŋ	exhaust

說文解字

《說文》：“竆，極也。从穴，躳聲。”

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)

zé rule Traditional

Original meaning: law

Depicts carving inscriptions on bronzeware (鼎) with a knife (刂). Based on the original meaning "law". In ancient China, some legal writings were inscribed on bronzeware.

Components

鼎 Iconic Remnant component

dǐng, zhēn cooking pot

Modern form looks like unrelated 貝.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 鼎 than it was in ancient scripts.

刂 Iconic component

dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (3 of 6 verified)

賊測惻廁側鰂

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsok	[ts]ˤək	then
	tsok	[ts]ˤək	rule, pattern

說文解字

《說文》：“則，等畫物也。从刀，从貝。貝，古之物貨也。，古文則。，亦古文則。，籀文則从鼎。”

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)

biàn change Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 夂 represents the meaning and 䜌 represents the sound.

Components

䜌 Sound component

luán tie together

Change in sound

變 and 䜌 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
變 *pro[n]-s
䜌 *mə.rˤo[n]

攵 Meaning component

pū tap

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	pjenH	pro[n]-s	change (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“變，更也。从攴，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)

穷 qióng poor Simplified

Components

Sources

则 zé rule Simplified

Components

Component uses

Sound (3 of 7 verified)

Remnant (1)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

思 sī, si think

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

变 biàn change Simplified

Components

Sources

窮 qióng poor Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

則 zé rule Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (3 of 6 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

變 biàn change Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

qióng poor Simplified

zé rule Simplified

sī, si think

biàn change Simplified

qióng poor Traditional

zé rule Traditional

biàn change Traditional