针砭 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

zhēnbiān

critique

zhēn needle Simplified

Simplified form of 針. Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 十 represents the sound.

Components

钅 Meaning component

jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

十 Sound component

shí ten

Change in sound

针 and 十 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
针 *t.[k]əm
十 *t.[g]əp

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

biān stone probe

Components

石 Meaning component

shí stone

stone

乏 Sound component

fá lack

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	prom
	proms

說文解字

以石刺病也。从石乏聲。

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

zhēn needle Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 釒 represents the meaning and 十 represents the sound.

Components

釒 Meaning component

jīn metal

十 Sound component

shí ten

Change in sound

針 and 十 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
針 *t.[k]əm
十 *t.[g]əp

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsyim	t.[k]əm	needle

Sources

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

针 zhēn needle Simplified

Components

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

砭 biān stone probe

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

針 zhēn needle Traditional

Components

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

zhēn needle Simplified

biān stone probe

zhēn needle Traditional