说话要算数
shuō​huà​yào​suàn​shù

keep one's word

说 shuō speak Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 讠 represents the meaning and 兑 represents the sound.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

兑
兑 Sound component
duì, ruì, duó exchange
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

话 huà, hua speech Simplified

Simplified form of 話. Phonosemantic compound. 讠 represents the meaning and 𠯑 represents the sound.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

𠯑
𠯑 Sound component
guā block the mouth

Modern form looks like 舌.

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

Sources

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

要 yào, yāo want

Original meaning: waist

Pictograph of two hands grabbing a woman's (女) waist. The current meaning "want" is a phonetic loan. The original meaning "waist" is now written as 腰.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts two hands grabbing a waist.

Change in meaning
◎ hints at the original meaning of 要, "waist", which is no longer the most common meaning of 要 in modern Mandarin.
女
女 Iconic component
nǚ, nü woman

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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 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 (2 of 3 verified)

票腰崾

Remnant (1)

票

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jiewH[q]ew(k)-s important

說文解字

《說文》：“要，身中也，象人要自之形。从，交省聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.183
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

算 suàn, suan count

Depicts a tool (具) made from bamboo (⺮) for performing calculations, such as an abacus.

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

具
具 Meaning component
jù, ju tool

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

篡纂籑篹

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartswanH[s]ˤorʔ-s calculate; tally

說文解字

《說文》：“算，數也，从竹，从具，讀若筭。”

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)

数 shù, shǔ, shu number Simplified

Simplified form of 數. Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 婁 represents the sound.

Components

攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

娄
娄 Sound component
lóu, lǚ, lǘ surname
Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

擞薮

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

說 shuō speak Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 兌 represents the sound.

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
兌
兌 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
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

話 huà, hua speech Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 𠯑 represents the sound.

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
𠯑
𠯑 Sound component
guā block the mouth

Modern form looks like 舌.

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

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthwaejH[g]ʷˤrat-s speak; words

說文解字

《說文》：“，合會善言也。从言，聲。《傳》曰：‘告之話言。’譮，籀文从會。”

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)

數 shù, shǔ, shu number Traditional

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

Components

攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

婁
婁 Sound component
surname
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 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 (0 of 2 verified)

擻藪

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsrjuXs-roʔ count (v.)
srjuHs-roʔ-s number (n.)
sraewks-rok frequently

說文解字

《說文》：“數，計也。从攴，婁聲。”

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)