弯腰
wān​yāo

stoop

弯 wān bend Simplified

Simplified form of 彎. Phonosemantic compound. 弓 represents the meaning and 䜌 represents the sound.

Components

亦
亦 Simplified component
yì also

Shorthand for the phonetic 䜌 component in the traditional character 彎.

弓
弓 Meaning component
gōng bow

Component uses

Sound (1)

湾

Sources

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

腰 yāo waist

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 要 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

要
要 Sound component
yào, yāo want

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jiewʔew waist

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart

彎 wān bend Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 弓 represents the meaning and 䜌 represents the sound.

Components

䜌
䜌 Sound component
luán tie together
弓
弓 Meaning component
gōng bow

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

灣

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangqroːn
Unicodequan

說文解字

《說文》：“彎，持弓關矢也。从弓，聲。”

Sources

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