财阀
cái​fá

tycoon

财 cái wealth Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 贝 represents the meaning and 才 represents the sound. Simplified form of 財.

Components

贝
贝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China, shells were used as currency.

才
才 Sound component
cái, cai talent

Sources

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

阀 fá powerful and influential group Simplified

Components

门
门 Meaning component
mén, men door

gate

伐
伐 Sound component
fá cut down

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

財 cái wealth Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 才 represents the sound.

Components

貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China, shells were used as currency.

才
才 Sound component
cái, cai talent

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzoj[dz]ˤə wealth

說文解字

《說文》：“財，人所寶也。从貝，才聲。”

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)

閥 fá powerful and influential group Traditional

Components

門
門 Meaning component
mén, men door

gate

伐
伐 Sound component
fá cut down

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangbad

說文解字

閥閱，自序也。从門伐聲。義當通用伐。

Sources

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