绞脑汁
jiǎo​nǎo​zhī

rack one's brains

绞 jiǎo, xiáo, jiào twist Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 交 represents the sound. Simplified form of 絞.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

交
交 Sound component
jiāo to cross, to mix

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

脑 nǎo brain Simplified

Simplified form of 腦. Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 𡿺 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

囟
囟 Simplified component
xìn fontanel

Shorthand for the phonetic 𡿺 component in the traditional character 腦.

Sources

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

汁 zhī juice

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 十 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

十
十 Sound component
shí ten

Character Evolution

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-Sagarttsyip[t.k][ə]p juice

說文解字

《說文》：“汁，液也。从水，十聲。”

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)

絞 twist Traditional

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

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

交
交 Sound component
jiāo to cross, to mix

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-SagartkæwXk-rˤ[i]wʔ (dialect: *k.rˤ- > *kˤr-)twist; strangle
Zhengzhangkreːwʔ

說文解字

縊也。从交从糸。

Sources

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

腦 nǎo brain Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 𡿺 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

𡿺
𡿺 SoundMeaning component
nǎo brain

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnawXnˤ[u]ʔ brain

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart