绕弯
rào​wān

speak indirectly

绕 rào, rǎo entwine Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 尧 represents the sound. Simplified form of 繞.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

尧
尧 Sound component
yáo a legendary ancient emperor-sage

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

弯 wān bend Simplified

Simplified form of 彎. Phonosemantic compound. 弓 represents the meaning and 䜌 represents the sound.

Components

亦
亦 Simplified component
yì also

Shorthand for the phonetic 䜌 component in the traditional character 彎.

弓
弓 Meaning component
gōng bow

Component uses

Sound (1)

湾

Sources

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

繞 rào, rǎo entwine Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 堯 represents the sound.

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

堯
堯 Sound component
legendary ancient emperor-sage

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnyewX[ŋ]ewʔ (< uvular?)curved
nyewH[ŋ]ewʔ-s (< uvular?)to wind round
Zhengzhangŋjewʔ
ŋjaws
Unicodenjiɛ̌u
njiɛ̀u

說文解字

纏也。从糸堯聲。

Sources

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

彎 wān bend Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 弓 represents the meaning and 䜌 represents the sound.

Components

䜌
䜌 Sound component
luán tie together
弓
弓 Meaning component
gōng bow

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

灣

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangqroːn
Unicodequan

說文解字

《說文》：“彎，持弓關矢也。从弓，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)