在编 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)

biān knit, compile, edit Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 扁 represents the sound. Simplified form of 編.

Components

纟 Meaning component

mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

扁 Sound component

biǎn flat

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode

biān knit, compile, edit Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 扁 represents the sound.

Components

糹 Meaning component

mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

扁 Sound component

biǎn flat

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	pen	pˤe[r]	plait, weave
	pjien	pe[r] (~ *mə-pe[r] in donor to HM)	plait, weave

說文解字

《說文》：“編，次簡也。从糸，扁聲。”

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)

在 zài be at

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

编 biān knit, compile, edit Simplified

Components

Sources

編 biān knit, compile, edit Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

zài be at

biān knit, compile, edit Simplified

biān knit, compile, edit Traditional