阿爸父
ā​bà​fù

Abba

阿 ā name prefix

Original meaning: hillside

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 可 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "hillside". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

Change in meaning
阝 hints at the original meaning of 阿, "hillside", which is no longer the most common meaning of 阿 in modern Mandarin.
可
可 Sound component
kě able to
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
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 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 (1 of 6 verified)

啊婀锕屙痾錒

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'aqˤa[j] slope, river bank
'aʔˤa (< *qˤaj)阿會亘 ēhuìxuān: Skt. ābhāsvara “shining” (E. Hàn)

說文解字

大陵也。一曰曲𨸏也。从𨸏可聲。

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)

爸 bà, ba father

Phonosemantic compound. 父 represents the meaning and 巴 represents the sound.

Components

父
父 Meaning component
fù father
巴
巴 Sound component
ba, bā to wish

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpraːs
baʔ

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

父 fù father

Pictograph of a hand holding something. The exact nature of the object is unclear. Variously explained as a rod or a hatchet.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

布甫斧釜

Meaning (4)

爷爸爹爺

Iconic (1)

甫

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjuXp(r)aʔ (respectful suffix in male names)
bjuX[N-p](r)aʔ father

說文解字

《說文》：“父，矩也，家長率教者。从又舉杖。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.200-201
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)