帮佣
bāng​yōng

servant

帮 bāng help Simplified

Original meaning: side of a shoe

Phonosemantic compound. 巾 represents the meaning and 邦 represents the sound. Simplified form of 幫. Based on the original meaning "side of a shoe". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

巾
巾 Meaning component
jīn cloth
邦
邦 Sound component
bāng nation

Sources

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

佣 yōng, yòng, chōng commission (for middleman) Simplified

An employed 用 person 亻; 用 also provides the pronunciation

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person
用
用 SoundMeaning component
yòng, yong use

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangloŋs

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

幫 bāng help Traditional

Original meaning: side of a shoe

Phonosemantic compound. 帛 represents the meaning and 封 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "side of a shoe". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

帛
帛 Meaning component
bó silks
封
封 Sound component
fēng letter

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpaːŋ

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

傭 commission fee Traditional

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

person

庸
庸 Sound component
yōng usual

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyowngloŋhire
Zhengzhangl̥ʰoŋ
loŋ

說文解字

均直也。从人庸聲。

Sources

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