yín​yàn

airplane

yín silver Simplified

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

Components

Meaning component
jīn metal

is a component form of .

Sound component
gěn, gèn, hén blunt
Change in sound

Sources

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

yàn swallow (bird)

Pictograph of a swallow.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'enHʔˤe[n]-s swallow (n.)
'enHʔˤe[n]-s feast

說文解字

《說文》:“燕,玄鳥也。籋口,布翄,枝尾,象形。”

Sources

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

yín silver Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
jīn metal

is a component form of .

Sound component
gěn, gèn, hén blunt
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Xin 9-23 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnginŋrə[n] silver

說文解字

《說文》:“銀,白金也。从金,艮聲。”

Sources

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