shuō​dào​zuò​dào

keep word

shuō speak Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
yán speech

is a component form of .

Sound component
duì, ruì, duó exchange
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

dào, dao go to

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
zhì reach

Depicts an arrow arriving at its target.

Sound component
dāo knife

is a component form of .

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttawHtˤaw[k]-s arrive

說文解字

《說文》:“到,至也。从至,刀聲。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

zuò work

originated as a variant form of .

Components

SoundMeaning component
zuò make

The right half of was corrupted to look like unrelated .

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Meaning component
tap

is a component form of .

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangʔsaːɡs

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

shuō speak Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
yán speech
Sound component
exchange
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

《說文》:“說,說釋也。从言、兌。一曰談說。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica