不受欢迎
bù​shòu​huān​yíng

unwelcome

不 bù, bu no

Original meaning: sepals

Pictograph of sepals of a flower. The modern meaning "no" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 5 verified)

否杯钚罘盃

Simplified (4)

还环怀坏

Meaning (1 of 4 verified)

否歪甭孬

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjuwpə not
pjuwpə 不律 writing brush (pron. in Wú 吳 ap. Shuōwén; E. Hàn)

說文解字

《說文》：“不，鳥飛上翔不下來也。从一，一猶天也。象形。”

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)

受 shòu receive

Depicts a boat (舟) being passed from one hand (爫) to another hand (又). 舟 also served as phonetic, but it was later abbreviated.

Components

爫
爫 Iconic component
zhǎo hand, claw

爫 is a component form of 爪.

舟
舟 SoundIconic component
zhōu boat
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 舟 than it was in ancient scripts.
又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

授绶綬

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzyuwX[d]uʔ receive

說文解字

《說文》：“受，相付也。从，舟省聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫裘錫圭 "Chinese Writing" p.189
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

欢 huan, huān happy Simplified

Simplified form of 歡. Phonosemantic compound. 欠 represents the meaning and 雚 represents the sound. 欠 (yawn) is a pictograph of a person with an open mouth, used here to represent a person joyfully laughing.

Components

又
又 Simplified component
yòu again

Shorthand for the 雚 component in the traditional character 歡.

欠
欠 Iconic component
qiàn, qian yawn, deficient

Depicts a person opening their mouth to laugh.

Sources

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

迎 yíng receive

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 卬 represents the sound.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

卬
卬 Sound component
áng, ang, yǎng high

Character Evolution

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 ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngjaengŋ<r>aŋ go to meet
ngjaengHŋ<r>aŋ-s go to meet

說文解字

逢也。从辵卬聲。

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)

歡 huan, huān happy Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 欠 represents the meaning and 雚 represents the sound. 欠 (yawn) is a pictograph of a person with an open mouth, used here to represent a person joyfully laughing.

Components

雚
雚 Sound component
guàn, huán heron
欠
欠 Iconic component
qiàn, qian yawn, deficient

Depicts a person opening their mouth to laugh.

Character Evolution

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-Sagartxwanqʷʰˤar rejoice; joyous

說文解字

《說文》：“歡，喜樂也。从欠，雚聲。”

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)