划
huàhuá HSK2

row, paddle

Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 戈 represents the sound. In simplified Chinese 划 is also used to mean "cut, delimit, draw", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 劃.

Components

戈
戈 Sound component
gē spear
Change in sound
刂
刂 Meaning component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthwaeC.[g]ʷˤraj (?)row (v.)

Sources

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

劃 cut, delimit, draw Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 畫 represents the sound.

Components

畫
畫 SoundMeaning component
huà a painting
刂
刂 Meaning component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthweakgʷˤrek draw (v.)

說文解字

《說文》:“劃,錐刀曰劃。从刀,从畫,畫亦聲。”

Sources

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