怎么说呢
zěn​me​shuō​ne

how come

怎 zěn what? why? how?

Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 乍 represents the sound.

Components

心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart
乍
乍 Sound component
zhà, zuò suddenly
Change in sound

Sources

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

么 me [question particle] Simplified

Variant form of 幺, which is a pictograph of a twisted thread.

Component uses

Meaning (1)

麽

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

仫

Historical Pronunciations

Middle Chinese
Unicodeqeu

Sources

Character origin
黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.416
Readings & variants
Unicode

说 shuō speak Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 讠 represents the meaning and 兑 represents the sound.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

兑
兑 Sound component
duì, ruì, duó exchange
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

呢 ne, ní interrogative or emphatic final

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 尼 represents the sound. 口 (mouth) indicates that the character is only "mouthed", i.e. only used for its phonetic value.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
尼
尼 Sound component
ní, nǐ Buddhist nun

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangnil

Sources

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

麼 me interrogative particle Traditional

Original meaning: thin

Phonosemantic compound. 幺 represents the meaning and 麻 represents the sound.

Components

幺
幺 Meaning component
yāo tiny
麻
麻 Sound component
má, ma hemp

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangmaːlʔ

說文解字

《說文》：“麼，細也，从幺麻聲。”

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)

說 shuō speak Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 兌 represents the sound.

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
兌
兌 Sound component
exchange
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

《說文》：“說，說釋也。从言、兌。一曰談說。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)