货币贬值
huò​bì​biǎn​zhí

devaluate

货 huò goods Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 贝 represents the meaning and 化 represents the sound. Simplified form of 貨.

Components

化
化 Sound component
huà change
贝
贝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China, shells were used as currency.

Sources

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

币 bì currency Simplified

Simplified form of 幣. Phonosemantic compound. 巾 represents the meaning and 敝 represents the sound.

Components

丿
丿 Simplified component
piě, yì line

Shorthand for the phonetic 敝 component in the traditional character 幣.

巾
巾 Meaning component
jīn cloth

Sources

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

贬 biǎn, fá decrease Simplified

To devalue 乏 currency 贝

Components

贝
贝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell
乏
乏 Meaning component
fá lack

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

值 zhí price

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 直 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

直
直 Sound component
zhí straight

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdriHm-t<r>ək-s hold upright

說文解字

《說文》：“值，措也。从人，直聲。”

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)

貨 huò goods Traditional

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

Components

化
化 Sound component
huà change
貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China, shells were used as currency.

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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartxwaHqʷʰˤaj-s (movable) property, goods

說文解字

《說文》：“貨，財也。从貝，化聲。”

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)

幣 bì currency Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 巾 represents the meaning and 敝 represents the sound.

Components

敝
敝 Sound component
bì worn out
巾
巾 Meaning component
jīn cloth

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbjiejH[b]e[t]-s offering of silk

說文解字

《說文》：“幣，帛也。从巾，敝聲。”

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)

貶 decrease Traditional

To devalue 乏 currency 貝

Components

貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell
乏
乏 Meaning component
fá lack

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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-SagartpjemXpr[e]mʔdiminish
pjemXp(r)[o]mʔdiminish
Zhengzhangpromʔ
Unicodebyɛ̌m

說文解字

損也。从貝从乏。

Sources

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