fēng​diàn​chǎng

wind farm

fēng wind Simplified

Simplified form of . Originally written the same as (phoenix) because the two characters sounded the same. Later the bottom part of the character was abbreviated to distinguish the two characters.

Components

Sound component
fán all
Simplified component
five

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 10 verified)

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

diàn electricity Simplified

Original meaning: lightning

Simplified form of , which depicts lightning () during a rainstorm (). The component was deleted for simplification.

Components

Deleted component
rain
SoundIconic component
shēn to extend

Depicts lightning.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.981-982
Readings & variants
Unicode

chǎng cliff, (roof) Simplified

Pictograph of a cliff or similarly shaped object. Sometimes used interchangeably with 广 to depict a roof. In simplified Chinese is also used to mean "factory", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character .

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (6)

Unknown (1 of 5 verified)

Simplified (3)

Sound (2)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartxanXŋ̊ˤarʔ cliff
xanHŋ̊ˤar(ʔ)-s cliff

說文解字

《說文》:“厂,山石之厓巖,人可居。象形。厈,籀文从干。”

Sources

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

fēng wind Traditional

Originally written the same as (phoenix) because the two characters sounded the same. Later the bottom part of the character was abbreviated to distinguish the two characters.

Components

Sound component
fán all
Remnant component
fèng male phoenix

Abbreviated remnant of , originally a pictograph of a mythical bird. Later reanalyzed as .

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (2 of 10 verified)

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjuwngprəm wind (n.)
pjuwngHprəm-s blow; criticize

說文解字

《說文》:“風,八風也。東方曰明庶風;東南曰清明風;南方曰景風;西南曰涼風;西方曰閶闔風;西北曰不周風;北方曰廣莫風;東北曰融風。風動蟲生,故蟲八日而化。从虫,凡聲。凬,古文風。”

Sources

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

diàn electricity Traditional

Original meaning: lightning

Depicts lightning () during a rainstorm ().

Components

Meaning component
rain
SoundIconic component
shēn to extend

Depicts lightning.

Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdenHlˤi[n]-s lightning

說文解字

《說文》:“電,陰陽激燿也。从雨,从申。,古文電。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.981-982
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

chǎng factory Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 广 represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

广
广 Meaning component
guǎng roof
Sound component
chang roomy

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangtʰjaŋʔ
tʰjaŋs

Sources

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