抓耳挠腮
zhuā'ěr​náo​sāi

fidgeting

抓 zhuā scratch

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 瓜 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

爪
爪 SoundMeaning component
zhǎo, zhuǎ hand, claw

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsraew[ts](ˤ)ru grasp
tsraewXtsˤ<r>uʔ grasp

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart

耳 ěr ear

Pictograph of an ear.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (13 of 29 verified)

联职闻聪聊耸耻聘耽聋聆珥耷聒聩聃佴聱聽聍耵聲聞聯職聰聵聾聳

Sound (0 of 7 verified)

饵茸珥洱铒佴餌

Iconic (5)

取聂聖聶咠

Unknown (0 of 2 verified)

耿恥

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnyiXC.nəʔ ear
nyiXnəʔ #NAME?

說文解字

《說文》：“耳，主聽也。象形。”

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)

挠 náo, xiāo, rào scratch Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 尧 represents the sound. Simplified form of 撓.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

尧
尧 Sound component
yáo a legendary ancient emperor-sage

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

腮 sāi lower part of face

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 思 represents the sound. Simplified form of 顋.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

思
思 Sound component
sī, si think

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsnɯː
Unicodesəi

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

撓 scratch Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 堯 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

堯
堯 Sound component
legendary ancient emperor-sage

Character Evolution

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-SagartnræwXm-[q]ʰˤrewʔbend (v.); flinch
nræwXnˤ<r>[a]wʔdisturb
Zhengzhanghŋaːw
rŋaːw
rnaːwʔ
Unicodenǎu

說文解字

擾也。从手堯聲。一曰捄也。

Sources

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