zhè​diǎn

this point

zhè this Simplified

Original meaning: to meet

Simplified form of , which originally meant "to meet" and had a pronunciation corresponding to modern Mandarin yàn. later acquired an unrelated pronunciation and meaning through confusion with another character.

Components

Meaning component
chuò walk
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "to meet", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
wén writing

Simplified from the component in the traditional character , which is based on archaic pronunciation yàn.

Sources

Character origin
Wiktionary
Readings & variants
Unicode

diǎn dot Simplified

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
zhàn divine
Change in sound
biāo, huǒ fire

Simplified from the (black) component in the traditional character .

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

zhè this Traditional

Original meaning: to meet

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. The character originally meant "to meet" and had a pronunciation corresponding to modern Mandarin yàn. later acquired an unrelated pronunciation and meaning through confusion with .

Components

Meaning component
chuò walk
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "to meet", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
Sound component
yán speech

Based on archaic pronunciation yàn.

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangŋrans

Sources

Character origin
Wiktionary
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

diǎn dot Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
hēi black
Sound component
zhàn divine
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttemXtˤemʔ black spot

說文解字

《說文》:“點,小黑也。从黑,占聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica