宪
xiàn HSK7

constitution

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 先 represents the sound. Simplified form of 憲.

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof
先
先 Sound component
xiān first

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Regular Modern

Sources

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

憲 xiàn constitution Traditional

Depicts a spearhead (害) poking an eye (目). 心 was added later to represent the meaning.

Components

害
害 IconicRemnant component
hài, hai injure

Depicts a spearhead.

目
目 Iconic component
mù eye

Depicts an eye.

心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartxjonHqʰar
(~ *qʰar-s)		law; model; rule

說文解字

《說文》：“憲，敏也。从心，从目，害省聲。”

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)