肝胆相照
gān​dǎn​xiāng​zhào

mutually sincere

肝 gān liver

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

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

干
干 Sound component
gàn, gān interfere

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkans.kˤa[r]liver
Zhengzhangkaːn
Unicodegɑn

說文解字

木藏也。从肉干聲。

Sources

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

胆 dǎn gall bladder Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 旦 represents the sound. Simplified form of 膽.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

旦
旦 Sound component
dàn dawn

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangdaːn
daːn

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

相 xiāng, xiàng mutual

Original meaning: look at

Depicts an eye (目) looking at a tree (木). Based on the original meaning "look at". The meaning of this character has shifted over time to "compare" and "each other".

Components

木
木 Iconic component
mù tree
目
目 Iconic component
mù eye

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
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
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 8 verified)

想箱湘厢霜缃葙廂

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsjang[s]aŋ mutually
sjangH[s]aŋ-s appearance, quality

說文解字

《說文》：“相，省視也。从目，从木。《易》曰：‘地可觀者莫可觀於木。’《詩》曰：‘相鼠有皮。’”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.267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)

照 zhào shine

Phonosemantic compound. 灬 represents the meaning and 昭 represents the sound.

Components

灬
灬 Meaning component
biāo, huǒ fire

灬 is a component form of 火.

昭
昭 SoundMeaning component
zhāo, zhào bright

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyewHtaw-s shine on

說文解字

《說文》：“照，明也。从火，昭聲。”

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)

膽 dǎn gall bladder Traditional

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

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

詹
詹 Sound component
zhān, dàn talk too much

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttamX[t]ˤamʔgall
Zhengzhangtaːmʔ
Unicodedɑ̌m

說文解字

連肝之府。从肉詹聲。

Sources

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