还可以 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

hái, huán still, return Simplified

Simplified form of 還. 辶 represents the meaning. 不 replaces the traditional phonetic component 睘.

Components

不 Simplified component

bù, bu no

Shorthand for the 睘 component in the traditional character 還.

辶 Meaning component

chuò walk

Character Evolution

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Regular Modern

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Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical images: Academia Sinica

kě able to

Original meaning: sing

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and a pictograph of an axe handle (丂) which is now written as 柯 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "sing", now written as 歌. The current meaning "able to" is a phonetic loan.

Components

口 Meaning component

kǒu, kou mouth

Change in meaning

口 hints at the original meaning of 可, "sing", which is no longer the most common meaning of 可 in modern Mandarin.

丂 Sound Iconic component

kǎo, qiǎo, yú axe handle

Depicts an axe handle.

Change in sound

可 and 丂 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
可 khaX
丂 khawX

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (6 of 20 verified)

何阿奇河哥呵柯苛珂诃轲坷舸岢疴哿蚵钶軻訶

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

珂

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khaX	[k]ʰˤa[j]ʔ	may; acceptable

說文解字

《說文》：“可，肎也。从口、丂，丂亦聲。”

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)

yǐ by means of

Original meaning: carry

Depicts a person (人) carrying something.

Components

◎ Iconic component

characterless component

Depicts something being carried.

人 Iconic component

rén, ren person

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

似拟苡姒

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	yiX	ləʔ	take, use

說文解字

《說文》：“，用也。从反已。賈侍中說，已，意已實也。象形。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.980
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

hái, huán still Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 睘 represents the sound.

Components

辶 Meaning component

chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

睘 Sound component

qióng round

Change in sound

還 and 睘 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
還 *[ɢ]ʷˤ<r>en
睘 *[ɢ]ʷˤ<r>en

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	hwaen	[ɢ]ʷˤ<r>en	turn around; return
	zjwen	s-ɢʷen	turn around, return; agile

說文解字

復也。从辵瞏聲。

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)

还 hái, huán still, return Simplified

Components

Character Evolution

Sources

可 kě able to

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (6 of 20 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

以 yǐ by means of

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

還 hái, huán still Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

hái, huán still, return Simplified

kě able to

yǐ by means of

hái, huán still Traditional