tōng​xùn​guān

communications officer

tōng, tòng pass through

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
chuò walk

is a component form of .

Sound component
yǒng, tǒng, dòng path

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartthuwngl̥ˤoŋ penetrate

說文解字

達也。从辵甬聲。

Sources

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

xùn inquire Simplified

Simplified form of . Depicts a mouth () interrogating a captured prisoner of war (). also represents the sound. The (mouth) component was later reanalyzed as (speech).

Components

Iconic component
yán speech

is a component form of . Originally (mouth). Later reanalyzed as (speech).

SoundIconic component
xùn to fly rapidly

Depicts a captive prisoner with their hands tied behind their back.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

guān official

Depicts an official person () working in a governmental institution ().

Components

Meaning component
mián roof
shī teacher

𠂤 is used here as an abbreviation of .

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 9 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwankʷˤa[n] official (n.)

說文解字

《說文》:“官,吏事君也。从宀,从。猶眾也,此與師同意。”

Sources

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

xùn inquire Traditional

Depicts a mouth () interrogating a captured prisoner of war (). also represents the sound. The (mouth) component was later reanalyzed as (speech).

Components

Iconic component
yán speech

Originally (mouth). Later reanalyzed as (speech).

SoundIconic component
xùn to fly rapidly

Depicts a captive prisoner with their hands tied behind their back.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsinH[s]i[n]-s ask

說文解字

《說文》:“訊,問也。从言,卂聲。,古文訊从卥。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica