性冷淡
xìng​lěng​dàn

frigidity

性 xìng, xing nature

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 生 represents the sound.

Components

忄
忄 Meaning component
xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

生
生 Sound component
shēng, sheng life

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsjengHseŋ-s nature

說文解字

《說文》：“性，人之陽气性善者也。从心，生聲。”

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)

冷 lěng cold

Phonosemantic compound. 冫 represents the meaning and 令 represents the sound.

Components

冫
冫 Meaning component
bīng ice

冫 is a component form of 冰.

令
令 Sound component
lìng command

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangraːŋʔ
reːŋ
reːŋʔ
Unicodelæ̌ng
læ̌ng

說文解字

《說文》：“冷，寒也。从仌。令聲。”

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)

淡 dàn weak, bland, watery

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 炎 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

炎
炎 Sound component
yán flame

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdamX[l]ˤamʔ insipid

說文解字

《說文》：“淡，薄味也。从水，炎聲。”

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)