调兵遣将
diào​bīng​qiǎn​jiàng

assign personnel

调 diào, tiáo adjust, tune Simplified

Simplified form of 調. Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 周 represents the sound.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

周
周 Sound component
zhōu cycle
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

兵 bīng soldier

Pictograph of two hands (廾) holding a weapon.

Components

斤
斤 Iconic component
jīn axe

Depicts a weapon.

廾
廾 Iconic component
gǒng two hands

Depicts two hands.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 4 verified)

宾乒乓浜

Remnant (2)

乒乓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjaengpraŋ weapon

說文解字

《說文》：“，械也。从廾持斤，并力之皃。，古文兵从人、廾、干。兵，籀文。”

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)

遣 qiǎn send

Depicts a pair of hands (𦥑) sending out an army (師) from the military. The 辶 (walk) component was later added.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

𦥑
𦥑 Iconic component
jú, jǔ, póu two hands

Depicts two hands.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 𦥑 than it was in ancient scripts.
師
師 MeaningRemnant component
shī teacher

𠂤 is used here as an abbreviation of 師.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
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 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 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 4 verified)

谴缱譴繾

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhjienX[k]ʰe[n]ʔ send
khjienH[k]ʰe[n]ʔ-s (*kʰ- doesn't palatalize)grave goods

說文解字

《說文》：“遣，縱也。从辵，聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.126
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

将 jiāng, jiàng will Simplified

Simplified form of 將. Depicts a hand (寸) taking a piece of meat (肉). 爿 is a sound component.

Components

丬
丬 Sound component
qiáng piece of wood

丬 is a component form of 爿.

肉
肉 Iconic component
ròu meat
寸
寸 Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Depicts a hand.

Component uses

Sound (4 of 6 verified)

蒋奖浆桨酱锵

Remnant (4)

奖浆桨酱

Sources

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

調 diào, tiáo adjust, tune Traditional

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

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
周
周 Sound component
zhōu cycle
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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-Sagartdew[d]ˤiw tune (v.), adjust

說文解字

《說文》：“調，和也。从言，周聲。”

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)

將 jiāng, jiàng take Traditional

Depicts a hand (寸) taking a piece of meat (肉). 爿 is a sound component.

Components

爿
爿 Sound component
pán, qiáng piece of wood
肉
肉 Iconic component
ròu meat
寸
寸 Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Depicts a hand.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 (4 of 6 verified)

蔣蹡漿醬槳獎

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsjang[ts]aŋ bring
tsjangH[ts]aŋ-s lead (v.); leader

說文解字

《說文》：“將，帥也。从寸，省聲。”

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)