凄惨
qī​cǎn

miserable

凄 qī bitter cold Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 冫 represents the meaning and 妻 represents the sound. Simplified form of 淒.

Components

冫
冫 Meaning component
bīng ice

冫 is a component form of 冰.

妻
妻 Sound component
qī wife

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsʰiːl
Unicodetsei
tsei

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

惨 cǎn sad Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 参 represents the sound. Simplified form of 慘.

Components

忄
忄 Meaning component
xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

参
参 Sound component
cān, shēn take part in

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

悽 qī, qì sorrowful Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 妻 represents the sound.

Components

忄
忄 Meaning component
xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

妻
妻 Sound component
qī wife

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsʰiːl
Unicodetsei

說文解字

痛也。从心妻聲。

Sources

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

慘 cǎn sad Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 參 represents the sound.

Components

忄
忄 Meaning component
xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

參
參 Sound component
cān, shēn take part in

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsʰluːmʔ
Unicodetsǒm

說文解字

毒也。从心參聲。

Sources

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