可
kěkè HSK2

able to

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approved by Peter Olson · Oct 12, 2020, 07:13 AM · Reviewed by Peter Olson on Oct 12, 2020, 07:13 AM

verify, add source

Changed fields: gloss, hint, originalMeaning, isVerified, components, customSources

Original meaning: sing

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and the right component, which is a pictograph of an axe handle (now written as 柯), represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "sing", now written as 歌. The current meaning "able to" is a phonetic loan.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
Change in meaning
口 hints at the original meaning of 可, "sing", which is no longer the most common meaning of 可 in modern Mandarin.
柯
柯 SoundRemnant component

Depicts an axe handle. Original form of 柯.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
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 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-SagartkhaX[k]ʰˤa[j]ʔ may; acceptable

說文解字

《說文》：“可，肎也。从口、丂，丂亦聲。”

Sources

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