shǎ foolish

Depicts a person () with a gap in their skull (𡕩), i.e. with no brains.

Components

Meaning component
rén person

is a component form of .

𡕩
𡕩 Meaning component
mǎn gap between bones in skull

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangsqʰʷraːʔ
sqʰʷraːs

Sources

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

compel

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

Meaning component
chuò walk

is a component form of .

Sound component
fú, bì to fill

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-Sagartpikprəkurge, press
Zhengzhangprɯɡ
Unicodebiək

說文解字

近也。从辵畐聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica