突破
tū​pò HSK5

surmount

突 tū suddenly

Depicts a dog (犬) suddenly running out of a cave (穴).

Components

穴
穴 Iconic component
xué, jué cave
犬
犬 Iconic component
quǎn dog

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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-Sagartdwotm-tʰˤut burst through
thwottʰˤut break through; suddenly

說文解字

《說文》：“突，犬从穴中暫出也。从犬在穴中。一曰滑也。”

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)

破 pò break

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

Components

石
石 Meaning component
shí stone
皮
皮 Sound component
pí skin
Change in sound

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartphaHpʰˤaj-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)