凭险
píng​xiǎn

rely on terrain

凭 píng lean on Simplified

Leaning on (trusting) 任 a table 几

Components

任
任 Meaning component
rèn responsibility
几
几 Meaning component
jǐ, jī small table

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangbrɯŋ
brɯŋs
Unicodebhiəng
bhiə̀ng

說文解字

依几也。从几从任。《周書》：“凭玉几。”讀若馮。

Sources

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

险 xiǎn danger, narrow pass Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 佥 represents the sound. Simplified form of 險.

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

佥
佥 Sound component
qiān together

Sources

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

憑 píng lean on Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 馮 represents the sound.

Components

心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart
馮
馮 Sound component
surname

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbing[b]rəŋlean on
Zhengzhangbɯŋ
Unicodebhiəng

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang

險 xiǎn danger, narrow pass Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 僉 represents the sound.

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

僉
僉 Sound component
together

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartxjaemXqʰr[a]mʔ precipitous, dangerous
xjemXqʰr[a]mʔ precipitous, dangerous

說文解字

阻，難也。从𨸏僉聲。

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)