紧靠
jǐn​kào

lean against

紧 jǐn tense Simplified

Simplified form of 緊. Phonosemantic compound. 臤 represents the sound, while 糸 represents the meaning.

Components

𰀡
𰀡 Sound component
qiān to gouge out an eye
Change in sound
糸
糸 Meaning component
mì, sī silk

Depicts a thread being tightened.

Sources

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

靠 kào lean on

Original meaning: conflict

Phonosemantic compound. 非 represents the meaning and 告 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "conflict". The meaning later shifted to "lean against".

Components

告
告 Sound component
gào tell
非
非 Meaning component
fēi not
Change in meaning
非 hints at the original meaning of 靠, "conflict", which is no longer the most common meaning of 靠 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkʰuːɡs

說文解字

《說文》：“靠，相違也。从非，告聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

緊 jǐn tense Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 臤 represents the sound, while 糸 represents the meaning.

Components

臤
臤 Sound component
to gouge out an eye
Change in sound
糸
糸 Meaning component
mì, sī silk

Depicts a thread being tightened.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkjinXC.qi[n]ʔ (I! no palatalization)tight

說文解字

《說文》：“緊，纏絲急也。从臤，从絲省。”

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)