較
jiào HSK3

compare

Original meaning: horizontal beams on a carriage

Phonosemantic compound. 車 represents the meaning and 交 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "horizontal beams on a carriage". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

車
車 Meaning component
chē cart, vehicle
Change in meaning
車 hints at the original meaning of 較, "horizontal beams on a carriage", which is no longer the most common meaning of 較 in modern Mandarin.
交
交 Sound component
jiāo to cross, to mix

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangkreːwɢs
kreːwɢ
Unicodegàu

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

较 jiào compare Simplified

Original meaning: horizontal beams on a carriage

Phonosemantic compound. 车 represents the meaning and 交 represents the sound. Simplified form of 較. Based on the original meaning "horizontal beams on a carriage". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

车
车 Meaning component
chē cart, vehicle
Change in meaning
车 hints at the original meaning of 较, "horizontal beams on a carriage", which is no longer the most common meaning of 较 in modern Mandarin.
交
交 Sound component
jiāo to cross, to mix

Sources

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