聪敏
cōng​mǐn

quick-witted

聪 cōng clever, wise Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 耳 represents the meaning and 总 represents the sound. Simplified form of 聰.

Components

耳
耳 Meaning component
ěr ear
总
总 Sound component
zǒng collect

Sources

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

敏 mǐn fast

Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 每 represents the sound.

Components

攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

每
每 Sound component
měi every

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

繁鳘

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartminXmrə[n]ʔ
(~ *mrəʔ)		diligent, active

說文解字

《說文》：“敏，疾也。从攴，每聲。”

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)

聰 cōng clever, wise Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 耳 represents the meaning and 悤 represents the sound. Originally written as 悤.

Components

耳
耳 Meaning component
ěr ear
悤
悤 SoundMeaning component
cōng agitated

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttshuwngs-l̥ˤoŋ hear well; intelligent

說文解字

《說文》：“聰，察也。从耳，怱聲。”

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)