陶砚
táo​yàn

pottery inkstone

陶 táo pottery

A mound 阝 of clay 匋; 匋 also provides the pronunciation

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place
匋
匋 SoundMeaning component
táo, yáo pottery

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangbl'uː
luː
Unicodedhɑu

說文解字

再成丘也，在濟陰。从𨸏匋聲。《夏書》曰：“東至于陶丘。”陶丘有堯城，堯嘗所居，故堯號陶唐氏。

Sources

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

砚 yàn inkstone Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 石 represents the meaning and 见 represents the sound. Simplified form of 硯.

Components

石
石 Meaning component
shí stone
见
见 Sound component
jiàn, xiàn, jian see

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

硯 inkstone Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 石 represents the meaning and 見 represents the sound.

Components

石
石 Meaning component
shí stone
見
見 Sound component
jiàn, xiàn, jian see

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngenHC.[ŋ]ˤe[r]-s (< uvular)smooth stone; inkstone
Zhengzhangŋɡeːn
ŋɡeːns
Unicodengèn

說文解字

石滑也。从石見聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)