约吗 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

yuē agreement Simplified

Original meaning: bind

Simplified form of 約. Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 勺 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bind". The meaning later shifted to "agreement", "restrain", "keep under control", "appointment", and "approximately".

Components

纟 Meaning component

mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

勺 Sound component

sháo, shuò, zhuó spoon

Change in sound

约 and 勺 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
约 *[q](r)ewk
勺 *m-tewk

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

药哟

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

ma, má final interrogative particle Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 马 represents the sound.

Components

口 Meaning component

kǒu, kou mouth

马 Sound component

mǎ horse

Sources

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

yuē agreement Traditional

Original meaning: bind

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 勺 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bind". The meaning later shifted to "agreement", "restrain", "keep under control", "appointment", and "approximately".

Components

糹 Meaning component

mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

勺 Sound component

sháo, shuò, zhuó spoon

Change in sound

約 and 勺 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
約 *[q](r)ewk
勺 *m-tewk

Character Evolution

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

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

葯喲

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	'jiewH	[q]ewk-s	bond, agreement (n.)
	'jak	[q](r)ewk	bind (v.), make an agreement

說文解字

《說文》：“約，纏束也。从糸，勺聲。”

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)

ma, má final interrogative particle Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 馬 represents the sound.

Components

口 Meaning component

kǒu, kou mouth

馬 Sound component

mǎ horse

Sources

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

约 yuē agreement Simplified

Components

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

吗 ma, má final interrogative particle Simplified

Components

Sources

約 yuē agreement Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

嗎 ma, má final interrogative particle Traditional

Components

Sources

yuē agreement Simplified

ma, má final interrogative particle Simplified

yuē agreement Traditional

ma, má final interrogative particle Traditional