约翰·本仁
Yuē​hàn​· Běn​rén

John Bunyan

约 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
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

勺
勺 Sound component
sháo, shuò, zhuó spoon
Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

药哟

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

翰 hàn writing brush

Phonosemantic compound. 羽 represents the meaning and 倝 represents the sound.

Components

羽
羽 Meaning component
yǔ feather
倝
倝 Sound component
gàn sunrise

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

瀚

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthanH[g]ˤar (MC implies *-s)white (of a horse)
hanH[g]ˤar-s pheasant; feather, wing
hanH[g]ˤar-s high
hanHm-kˤar-s prop up, support

說文解字

《說文》：“翰，天雞，赤羽也。从羽，倝聲。”

Sources

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

本 běn root

Addition of a horizontal line toward the bottom of 木 (tree) to represent the roots of the tree.

Components

木
木 Iconic component
mù tree
◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts roots.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

笨钵苯缽

Meaning (1)

体

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpwonXC.pˤə[n]ʔ tree trunk

說文解字

《說文》：“本，木下曰本。从木，一在其下。楍，古文。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.484-485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)

仁 rén humaneness

Depicts a kind relationship between two (二) people (亻). 亻 also represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 SoundMeaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

二
二 Meaning component
èr two

Used here to represent the concept of two people.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 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-Sagartnyinniŋ kind

說文解字

《說文》：“仁，親也。从人，从二。忎，古文仁从千、心。，古文仁或从尸。”

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)

約 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
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

勺
勺 Sound component
sháo, shuò, zhuó spoon
Change in sound

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

葯喲

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
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)