端砚
Duān​yàn

Duan inkstone

端 duān end, hold with both hands

Phonosemantic compound. 立 represents the meaning and 耑 represents the sound.

Components

立
立 Meaning component
lì stand
耑
耑 Sound component
duān, zhuān tip, start, extremity

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 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-Sagarttwantˤor tip (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“端，直也。从立，耑聲。”

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)

砚 yàn inkstone Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 石 represents the meaning and 见 represents the sound. Simplified form of 硯.

Components

石
石 Meaning component
shí stone
见
见 Sound component
jiàn, xiàn, jian see

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

硯 inkstone Traditional

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

Components

石
石 Meaning component
shí stone
見
見 Sound component
jiàn, xiàn, jian see

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngenHC.[ŋ]ˤe[r]-s (< uvular)smooth stone; inkstone
Zhengzhangŋɡeːn
ŋɡeːns
Unicodengèn

說文解字

石滑也。从石見聲。

Sources

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