勤勉
qín​miǎn

diligent

勤 qín industrious

Phonosemantic compound. 力 represents the meaning and 堇 represents the sound. Simplified form of 懃.

Components

力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power
堇
堇 Sound component
jǐn, qín, jìn clay

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 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 ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgjɨn[ɡ]ərtoil, diligent, devoted
Zhengzhangɡɯn
Unicodeghiən

說文解字

勞也。从力𡏳聲。

Sources

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

勉 miǎn endeavor

Phonosemantic compound. 力 represents the meaning and 免 represents the sound.

Components

力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power
免
免 Sound component
miǎn (hat), avoid

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmjenXmr[o][r]ʔmake an effort
Zhengzhangmronʔ
Unicodemyɛ̌n

說文解字

彊也。从力免聲。

Sources

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