在所难免 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

zài be at

Composed of 才 and 士, which both represent the sound.

Components

才 Sound component

cái, cai talent

士 Sound component

shì, shi scholar, soldier

Modern form looks like 土, but is unrelated.

Change in sound

在 and 士 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
在 dzojX
士 dzriX

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

茬

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dzojX	[dz]ˤəʔ	be at, be present

說文解字

《說文》：“在，存也。从土，才聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.908
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

suǒ place

Origin unclear. 戶 represents the sound.

Components

戶 Sound component

hù, hu door

Change in sound

所 and 戶 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
所 xuX
戶 huX

斤 Meaning component

jīn axe

The original purpose of this component is unclear.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	srjoX	s-qʰ<r>aʔ	place (n.); that which
	xuX	qʰaʔ	所所 = 許許 = 滸滸 sound of hewing wood

說文解字

《說文》：“所，伐木聲也。从斤，戶聲。”

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)

nán, nan, nàn difficult Simplified

Original meaning: type of bird

Simplified form of 難. Phonosemantic compound. 隹 represents the meaning and 𦰩 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "type of bird". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

又 Simplified component

yòu again

Shorthand for the 𦰩 component in the traditional character 難.

隹 Meaning component

zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

滩摊瘫傩

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

miǎn (hat), avoid

Original meaning: hat

Pictograph of a person wearing a hat or a crown, now written as 冕. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (3 of 11 verified)

晚勉挽冕娩谗鞔浼輓絻𠓥

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

搀

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	mjenX	mr[o][r]ʔ	avoid

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.640-641林志強《《文源》評注》p.410
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica

nán, nan, nàn difficult Traditional

Original meaning: type of bird

Phonosemantic compound. 隹 represents the meaning and 𦰩 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "type of bird". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.