伤脑筋
shāng​nǎo​jīn HSK7

rack one's brains

伤 shāng wound Simplified

Simplified form of 傷. Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 昜 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

◎
◎ Unknown component
characterless component
力
力 Simplified component
lì, li power

Shorthand for the phonetic 昜 component in the traditional character 傷.

Sources

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

脑 nǎo brain Simplified

Simplified form of 腦. Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 𡿺 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

囟
囟 Simplified component
xìn fontanel

Shorthand for the phonetic 𡿺 component in the traditional character 腦.

Sources

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

筋 jīn muscles

Bamboo-like ⺮ tendons in the chest 肋

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo
肋
肋 Meaning component
lē, lèi, jīn ribs

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkjɨnC.[k]ə[n]sinew
Zhengzhangkɯn
Unicodegiən

說文解字

肉之力也。从力从肉从竹。竹，物之多筋者。凡筋之屬皆从筋。

Sources

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

傷 shāng wound Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 𬀷 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

𬀷
𬀷 SoundMeaning component
shāng to injure

Character Evolution

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 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsyangl̥aŋ wound

說文解字

《說文》：“傷，創也。从人，省聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫zi.tools
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

腦 nǎo brain Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 𡿺 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

𡿺
𡿺 SoundMeaning component
nǎo brain

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnawXnˤ[u]ʔ brain

Sources

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