酸甜苦辣
suān​tián​kǔ​là HSK5

vicissitudes

酸 suān sour, tart

Phonosemantic compound. 酉 represents the meaning and 夋 represents the sound.

Components

酉
酉 Meaning component
yǒu wine
夋
夋 Sound component
qūn to dawdle

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 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-Sagartswan[s]ˤor sour

說文解字

《說文》：“酸，酢也。从酉，夋聲。關東謂酢曰酸。，籀文酸从畯。”

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)

甜 tián sweet

Depicts the tongue (舌) tasting something sweet (甘).

Components

舌
舌 Meaning component
shé tongue
甘
甘 Meaning component
gān sweetness

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangl'iːm

說文解字

《說文》：“甛，美也。从甘，从舌。舌，知甘者。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

苦 kǔ bitter

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 古 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

古
古 Sound component
gǔ old

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

楛

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

楛

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhuXkʰˤaʔ bitter

說文解字

大苦，苓也。从艸古聲。

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)

辣 là spicy

Phonosemantic compound. 辛 represents the meaning and a remnant of 剌 represents the sound.

Components

辛
辛 Meaning component
xīn laborious
剌
剌 SoundRemnant component
lá, là cut, slash

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlatmə.rˤat
(~ C.rˤat ?)		spicy-hot

Sources

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